


You Came to Me in January

by Lucky_13



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Au of sorts, F/F, basically staubrey falling in love, minor bechloe, staubrey - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-04-05 00:38:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14032320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucky_13/pseuds/Lucky_13
Summary: Messenger:Stacie Conrad sent you a message.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is basically my love letter to Staubrey.
> 
> I started the idea at the beginning of the year, intending to post it in Feb...but it's 20,000+ words later and I'm still going, so now the timing's off. Oh well. I think you'll get it.
> 
> Are you ready for this?

Messenger:  
_Stacie Conrad sent you a message._

Aubrey wasn’t usually one to pick up her phone in the middle of the work day to check her social media notifications. As the youngest lawyer at her firm, she prided herself on her meticulously professional conduct and adamantine work ethic. It was the Posen way. While others may take advantage of the privacy of having their own office, Aubrey reveled in knowing that she had enough discipline to refrain from any form of potential diversion.

She wouldn’t have even noticed the notification had she not chosen that moment to rest her eyes away from her computer monitor for a while.

The screen on her phone dimmed and she continued staring into the shiny reflection of where the message once was.

Fingers itching, Aubrey fought within herself for a whole minute before deciding that this was an anomaly (she would make sure to turn off Messenger’s notification options after this), and that, if she were to be honest with herself, leaving it unread would only prove to be a distraction for the rest of the day.

Besides, when was the last time she heard from Stacie? Or the rest of the Bellas for that matter?

Okay, Chloe was an exception, and by association, Beca was also an exception.

Maybe this was something important.

Aubrey reached over, grabbed her phone, and swiped to read the message.

_Hey Bree! You’re still in New York right?_  
_I’m gonna be there for work next week. Wanna grab dinner?  
_ _xx_

Aubrey’s eyebrows rose in surprise. It would be so nice to see a familiar face. Although Aubrey wouldn’t hesitate to throttle anyone who dared accuse her of being sentimental, she’d also be the first to admit that she missed her Bellas dearly. It had been three or four years since they last had a reunion with all of them there. And life after college did not exactly prove to be easy when it came to building a group of friends with the same sense of family again.

_Stacie! Yes, we definitely should. When will you be in town?_

Aubrey stared at her response for a bit and then felt a little silly when she found herself waiting for an answer. But just as she was about to set her phone down, she saw that Stacie had started typing.

_I get there Monday, but unfortunately my schedule’s totally crazy so I only have Wednesday evening free. :((( Can you make it?_

_That’s alright, Wednesday works for me._

_Sweet!! Ah! Can’t wait to see you ;-*_

_Me too!_

Aubrey made a note on her calendar and finished the rest of her day in a considerably good mood.

 

* * *

 

They agreed to meet in a part of town that was conveniently halfway between her office and Stacie’s hotel, at a small restaurant that Aubrey had recommended.

It was cold out — January weather unwavering. Aubrey buried her nose further into her cashmere scarf as she swiftly crossed the road, weaving in between stationary cars futilely jammed before an intersection. She ducked into the restaurant and immediately basked in the instant warmth and aroma that filled the space.

“Hi, reservation for two, under Posen.”

“Ms.Posen, yes. I see your table is getting set up at the moment. If you’ll please give us a few more minutes, we’ll seat you right away.”

Aubrey thanked the host and took a step aside to wait. She reached up to loosen her scarf as she glanced at a few more people coming in through the door, bringing in a draft of crisp wind with them. One of the newcomers, she noticed, was a particularly attractive brunette who looked like she may as well have just stepped out of a photoshoot. It took her a double take and an extra second to fully realize who the woman in front of her was.

“Stacie?”

“Aubrey!”

The blonde found herself almost instantly tackled into a big hug. She chuckled and returned it with a tight squeeze. A moment later Stacie had drawn back, hands still gripping Aubrey’s shoulders as she made a gesture of examining her friend from head to toe.

“Well, I can see that the real world looks great on you.”

Aubrey laughed out loud at the younger girl’s definitive nod of approval. She used the moment to study Stacie as well.

“Why is it no surprise that you’re still as gorgeous as ever.” It was more of a statement than a question.

Stacie only beamed in response, and all of a sudden Aubrey’s chest ached with nostalgia at the special dynamic she had with each of her Bellas.

Before either could say anything else, the host had called Aubrey’s name and invited them to follow him to their table. They took their seats swiftly, excited to be catching up with a familiar face.

It’s funny — Aubrey knew that the single year she spent with her final crew of Bellas had nothing on Chloe’s and Beca’s time with them. But she was incredibly lucky that they still welcomed her to most of their gatherings after she left Barden, even with her history of having been a hardass on them all (she had Chloe and her refusal to graduate to thank for that.) She wouldn’t exactly shout about it, but each one of her Bellas would always have a special place in her heart. Sure, even Amy and Lilly. Even Beca.

“It’s been way too long.”

“When was the last time we saw each other?”

It was hard to know where to even begin. Even though they had a Bellas group chat that kept everyone posted on important events in each other’s lives, it wasn’t the same as being able to have a conversation in person.

“I don’t know, maybe two years after you all graduated?” They had a little reunion then, to watch Emily and her own team of Bellas perform at the Kennedy Center. But immediately after that, everyone had dispersed to different parts of the country—of the world—to return to the new lives they’d started to build. Sitting here with Stacie now, another three years later, made their time at Barden seem like a lifetime away.

It suddenly occurred to Aubrey that in front of her may be a completely new person. They’d both finished college, moved cities, (in Aubrey’s case, gone to graduate school) and had worked for a couple of years already—a pretty significant amount of life having been lived. She felt curious to see how much of the younger brunette had changed, or stayed. And a part of her was curious too about how much she herself had changed in the eyes of somebody else.

—

“So word on the street is that you’re a big shot lawyer now.”

“Word on the street?” Aubrey smirked at the choice of words.

“What, did you prefer I say ‘Word on your LinkedIn profile that I looked up last week’? Because it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue the same way.”

Aubrey hid her wide smile behind her glass of red wine. When had Stacie developed such a sharp tongue? Or perhaps, it was always there, in chrysalis while the brunette let herself explore the many modes of being Stacie Conrad within the worlds of E! network, frat boys and collegiate a cappella.

“Corporate lawyer,” the blonde elaborated. “Our firm specializes in a few different sectors, but my focus is on corporate. You know, the business side of things.”

“I guess you were always a business type of gal,” Stacie commented playfully.

“And you? You’ll have to forgive me, I didn’t do my research beforehand like  _somebody_.”

The younger girl let out a small cackle.

“Wait, don’t tell me,” Aubrey began. “You’re a model for some fashion studio. Or retailer. Something chic like Zara.”

Stacie had to really catch herself in that moment. She paused from her meal and raised a brow at her friend.

“You think I’m a model?” she asked.

Aubrey considered her for a couple of seconds. “Sure, I mean, you’re practically built for it.” She gestured almost brusquely with a wave of a hand.

Stacie finally couldn’t stop herself from breaking out a sultry grin. “Are you saying that you think I’m hot?”

The look on Aubrey’s face right after was priceless.

“I mean— I… I’m just saying that, objectively speaking, you have very good proportions and considering the pre-existing standards within the industry, you would fit…” The blonde took a moment to recompose herself. “Okay, so you’re not a model?”

“Not professionally, per say. I’ve only been a stand-in once or twice. I actually work as a cosmetic chemist at a startup in Chicago.”

“Oh.” Aubrey’s brows rose impossibly high. In the far corners of her mind an image popped up of Stacie in a green robe with a yellow honors stole around her neck—something she had never thought twice about, until now.  _Cosmetic chemist?_  “Wow…that’s impressive.”

The smile that grew on Stacie’s face could only be characterized as genuinely proud. “Who knew that was even a thing, right?”

Aubrey was reeling at the fact that she’d read the brunette wrong in the previous years of knowing her. “That certainly sounds a hell of a lot more exciting than corporate law.”

“It’s a pretty sweet gig, I gotta say.” Stacie’s expression was equally fond and contemplative. “But…with the amount of confidence you have in my body, maybe I should give modeling a real shot,” she said with a wink. A red glow instantly returned to Aubrey’s cheeks, and it was slowly starting to become the younger girl’s favorite thing this evening.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“Don’t even worry about it, Bree.” Stacie waved her off and reached for her wine. “I appreciate it. You sure know how to flatter a girl, Miss Posen.”

The blonde rolled her eyes in an attempt to counter how affected she was feeling from the relentless teasing. But even Stacie’s flirtatious nature was something she quite missed about her. It was clear that this particular trait had been unshakeable, and perhaps had even been honed over the past couple of years.

“So tell me about this fascinating job of yours,” Aubrey insisted, rather curious to get a glimpse of this other side of Stacie she’d never been privy to. “What kind of products do you make?”

The brunette sat up in her seat as she reflexively called up their elevator speech. “Well, our company is kind of this mashup between cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. We’re trying to solve skin care products for all kinds of issues, from chronic epidermal conditions to common things like sunburn.”

The blonde blinked in wonder. “I can’t even imagine the processes involved with that kind of work. That’s amazing.”

She didn’t know what was more surprising, being reminded of this overlooked line of work or learning that Stacie had held such an evident interest in science that she found herself a job within that stratum. Okay, scratch that—she was undeniably more surprised about the latter. A part of her felt a little embarrassed actually, to have wrongly judged the younger girl back in college. Ever since Beca happened, Aubrey had to learn bit by bit not to take people at face value, a lesson she wished she was taught sooner.

Truth be told, there was a moment earlier in the day where Aubrey felt anxious about meeting up with Stacie, mainly due to all the time that had passed between them. She didn’t know if they’d have much to talk about. But not even half an hour into their meal, the blonde was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case at all. Here she was, raptly learning about what Stacie had been up to in the past few years, and the remarkably interesting things she was doing at her job.

Aubrey couldn’t remember the last time she conversed so seamlessly with another person. Perhaps it’s having shared an experience at Barden, and a testament to the closeness of the Bellas. As much as they reminisced longingly about their rehearsals and performances (Aubrey even allowed a few jabs from Stacie about being the most olympic-ready a cappella team in history), they also exchanged a number of stories from their lives after Barden. It was…strange. Strange, only in the way that it was like catching up with an old friend and meeting someone new at the same time.

“So you’ve been living here for a few years now? Do you like it?”

Aubrey nodded. “Yes, I love it here. I can’t imagine any other place having the same wavelength as I do.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” For a split second she tried to picture the older girl against a city like Portland or San Francisco, and it was so impossible, the mere image just ended up breaking in her mind. Stacie stifled a laugh and propped her cheek up against her hand in thought. “Every time I visit New York, I love it a little more too.”

“Do you come here often for work?”

“Mmm, not really. But I got promoted last year and we started speaking with some investors based in lower Manhattan so… I’m hoping I will!”

“That’s amazing Stace! And I hope so too. Tell your boss I personally approve.”

“I’m sure she’d be up for it, she’s pretty cool as far as bosses come.” Stacie smiled and let out a small sigh. “I got so lucky with this one, Bree. I honestly didn’t think I’d find a job that I actually cared about.”

“I’m so glad to hear that Stacie.” Aubrey felt a strange sense of pride over her Bella doing so well out in the world. And a level of protectiveness too that the blonde will probably never shake. “It seems like they’re treating you well?”

“So well! I mean, the company’s run by a woman and they really treat everyone with respect. My coworkers are super smart and creative people but also, like, major goofs. We actually hang out a lot.”

Of course, someone could be a human equivalent of a bitchy wolverine and Stacie would still find a way to get along with them. Aubrey amusedly tried to imagine the Stacie she knew within the dynamic of a work environment, and in a lab no less. She shook her head fondly at the likely fact that nobody could possibly turn the brunette down if she ever asked for anything. Multiple times in college, Aubrey had witnessed her switch on her charm, and the immediate effects that followed.

“What about you, Bree? You get along with your coworkers?”

The blonde thought for a moment and felt a little embarrassed that she’s never really hung out with her colleagues outside of work. Well, they did have office parties, and the occasional stop at the bar for celebratory drinks after a particularly grueling case…but beyond that, Aubrey couldn’t say she made much effort in getting to know everybody besides her direct superiors and the two people she spoke with on a regular basis. (She could hardly remember the intern’s name. Was it Gary? Gregory? Oh, nope, it was definitely Ryan.)

It’s just the nature of her work.

She’ll allow herself to admit that it’s partly because she’s the youngest lawyer in the office with the most to prove, and she was hoping that maintaining a professional aura would work in her favor. But it’s also the fact that she never felt compelled to expound her life’s story over the water cooler. There’s not enough hours—or quite frankly, patience—in the day for that.

Aubrey refocused and saw Stacie sporting a raised eyebrow.

“Well…I don’t spend much time with them outside of work, but they’re…”  _People_ , she thought with a shrug. She tried another angle. “My bosses are great. They really seem to trust me, which makes the work a lot easier. I have two paralegals that I manage and, come to think of it, they’ve actually been easier to work with now that they know my system.” Aubrey made a mental note to give them a pat on the back at some point, as these social expectations often eluded her until someone else brought it up. She liked to think that she’s the reason they’ve been developing a thicker skin (and quicker keyboard dexterity).

The blonde noticed a smirk playing on the lips of her friend. “What?”

“Nothing, I just had a flashback to Captain Posen is all.”

“Okay, hold up,” Aubrey warned her with a finger. “I know my work ethic wasn’t exactly appreciated by everybody then, but these are important legal documents we’re talking about here.”

Stacie chuckled. “No, I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” Aubrey shot her a look and she immediately reached over to grab her wrist for assurance. “Really! I was just thinking that it’s so perfect for you. You must be amazing at your job.”

“Well, good enough that they gave me my own office,” the blonde bragged dryly.

Stacie beamed at her. “I honestly wouldn’t expect anything less.” If they had senior superlatives at Barden, Aubrey’s would have been a resounding ‘most likely to become your boss.’

“You know you’re the reason any of us got our shit together right? I’m sure your paralegals would be thanking you down the line.”

“Thanks Stace…that’s sweet of you to say.” Aubrey reflected for a moment and suddenly felt grateful that she had friends who supported and  _got_  her. She’d always had Chloe on her side since forever, but it was unexpectedly nice to hear it from someone who wasn’t her best friend.

“So, what about the other lawyers at your firm? Does everyone have strong personalities or am I just pulling things out of my ignorant ass?” Aubrey had to chuckle a bit at her brand of irreverence before she answered.

“Oh, they’re fine. I mean most of them are pretty competent and heads down when it comes to the work.” She paused to think about Monique and Keith, the two attorneys that she got along best with. Everyone else she had pretty neutral feelings for, well, maybe except…Nate. Aubrey instantly snapped her eyes closed and huffed rather frustratedly.

“Oh my god, what’s up?”

“I was just thinking I hardly have any issues with anyone at the office, except I forgot this one lawyer who asked me out a few months ago.”

Stacie perked up in her seat. “And?!”

“And?” The blonde arched an eyebrow. “His name is Nate; he’s an arrogant lawyer and kind of an insufferable pain in the ass. Although I might be biased. He asked me out two more times after I said no.”

“What! Can’t you report him to HR?”

“Not exactly. We’re technically at the same level of position and he’s pretty much best friends with our partner’s son so he has a leg up on everybody there.”

“Shit. That must be really annoying.”

Aubrey let out a sigh. “Yes, it is. And it’s not like he’s awful-looking, or that he acts inappropriately—because if I’m honest, he was generally respectful and courteous about it… He’s just…not what I’m looking for, and I hate that he can’t seem to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Stacie leaned back in her seat and let out a low whistle. “Boy needs to stay in his lane.”

Aubrey chuckled, then shook her head in exasperation. “Thankfully he specializes in real estate, so I don’t have to work with him too much. It’s just in my best interest to make nice with him. If he were anybody else…”

“—that guy would be lying in a ditch with his vocal chords ripped out,” Stacie finished her sentence for her and they both laughed.

“I’ll cheers to that.”

They clinked their glasses together and lazily finished the rest of their wine. When their glasses and bottle eventually emptied, they finally looked around to realize that the restaurant had significantly thinned out. A glance at their watches told them it was already a quarter to eleven.

Almost regretfully, they asked for the check and split the bill (at Stacie’s adamance). They left the table, bundled up, and braced themselves for the cold as they stepped outside.

“Which way are you going?”

“My hotel’s down by Soho, so I’ll take the subway.”

“I’ll walk you.”

Stacie smiled gratefully and smoothly looped their arms together.

“Where do you live?”

“Upper east side. I have a small studio.”

“Neat.”

They walked together for a few blocks in the silence of each other’s company. A part of Stacie was glad to have Aubrey there so she didn’t have to make any extra effort in finding her way to the station. When they finally got to the entrance, they stood in front of each other for a moment.

A strange feeling passed over Aubrey, making her miss the younger girl instantly even though she was still standing right in front of her.

“I’m so glad we did this.”

“Me too.”

Stacie pulled her in for a tight hug. And maybe it was the wine, or the biting weather that whirled around their bodies, (or the fact that Aubrey suddenly became aware that she hadn’t had such intimate contact with another person in a long time), but they held each other close for a longer while.

A while that, to a casual observer, may be considered romantic even.

When they finally stepped back, Stacie left her hands in a loose grip on the blonde’s shoulders. They shared an unexpectedly tender look. Aubrey faintly registered her heart pounding in her ears.

“Tell your boss that you’ll be coming to New York more often.”

Stacie’s smile was all teeth and blinding. She giggled loudly and leaned in to give Aubrey a lingering kiss on the cheek.

“I will.”

Aubrey’s chest felt tight as she watched the brunette descend the stairs.

“Text me so that I know you’re back safe.”

“Same!”  


—

  
Stacie texted when she got back to the hotel, as promised.

She texted the next day too, once she’d landed back in Chicago.

_I can’t believe we forgot to take a photo together! X-(_

_We’ll just have to make up for it the next time you’re in town._

_Ha. Better count on it Posen._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I realize it's been like 5 years since I've written stuff. If you see a typo or error, I'd appreciate it if you pointed it out so I can go back in and fix it.
> 
> Also would love to hear any first impressions so far. This first chapter was a little dry to set up the context, but it gets real fluffy real soon, promise. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a gentle reminder that this was meant to be published around February.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments so far!

_Did you see what Amy just posted???_

This was the message she found waiting for her at the end of a random workday. Another quickly followed:

_I am DYING_

The lawyer tapped into the Bellas’ group chat and had to scroll up past a few exclamatory emojis before landing on a photo of what appeared to be Amy standing atop a fallen tree trunk and an _animal_ on her back. It took her a moment to soak it all in before going back to respond to Stacie.

_Honestly, I didn’t think she was serious about the koala.._

_Oh you know she’s dixie chicks serious when critters are involved._

Aubrey rolled her eyes in amusement.

_Hehe, Ashley just photoshopped Beca’s head onto its body._

_!!!!!!_

_—  
_  

The texts came and went like this in irregular intervals ever since they reconnected in New York. Although the older girl was never much for texting, she did take pleasure in having another correspondent in addition to Chloe. It was refreshing and liberating to be able to chat about things that happened during her day, be they noteworthy or completely trivial.

Stacie, for one, was glad that their back and forth never seemed to be out of obligation, and that Aubrey always found time to respond to whatever silly things she’d sent. She wasn’t sure if it was because their texting became a ‘thing’ recently or what, but the blonde had been on her mind pretty frequently these days.

Stacie couldn’t help but think back to the conversations they had the night they met up—the bittersweet reflections of their days in college; the stimulating divergence of ideas and opinions they had both shared; (and the way this older version of Aubrey carried herself now.) There was a faraway, persisting feeling that something finally clicked. That _they_ clicked, in a way they hadn’t before.

Odd.

But, like, not in a bad way.

Mostly in a way that caused her to wonder whether they would have actually hit it off had they had more time at Barden to get to know each other. Because it was surprising, how effortless it was to be on the same wavelength when they talked, despite how contrasting their personalities may be on the surface.

She had no idea what to do with this observation, or whether she should even dwell much on it or not.

  
But very soon, February had rolled around, blindsiding those unsuspecting. And when Stacie inevitably found herself pausing at a window display full of roses and ribbons and paper hearts…she almost tripped over her own two legs when the first person that came to mind was Aubrey.

Huh. She’d never really thought about it before.

Okay, that was a complete lie. She had _definitely_ thought about it before, but in a different context.

At the time it seemed more like a novelty and a curiosity than anything else. Like the casual fantasy she’d entertain for a minute or two while she waited for her bio lecture to begin or as she queued up in line at the cafe. Let’s be honest here, anybody with eyes could have seen that Aubrey Posen was a solid 10 (you just had to get past the trenches first.) Stacie had always thought so. Even _after_ having seen what was considerably the worst of Aubrey, in person and on video. There’s a lot to be said about the blonde’s stamina and, quite frankly, perfectionism that Stacie idolized. Aubrey always had a clear vision of who she was, what she wanted, and how she was going to get it.

 _Unstoppable_ , Stacie thought to herself.

And with that momentum, Aubrey devotedly worked to bring along the rest of the Bellas with her.

Not without bumps along the way, of course. They all had to learn lessons of openness, forgiveness and trust (it’s just that Aubrey had to be the example.) And when she looked back later, Stacie understood that it must not have been easy.

So yeah, maybe she was aware that Aubrey Posen was something special. Maybe it did cross her mind how her captain’s militant yelling and domineering persona had actually been kind of hot. But she was young in college—not inexperienced (the Hunter was a _hunter_ ) but—looking for a particular brand of fun.

Also, Stacie hadn’t even seriously considered _dating_ women until her final year at Barden. Kissing and sleeping with women, yes. That much she was familiar with ever since she got curious one summer in high school and made out with one of her close friends. Even at the beginning of her freshman year in college, she was rather gender-agnostic when it came to sex. Because by then, she had enough experience to know that sleeping with men and women was equally thrilling, satisfying and fun in their own ways.

But _dating_ was another story. While Stacie had been with a few guys here and there over her time at Barden, she had never actually thought about dating a girl before. Like, actually going steady and becoming girlfriends sort of thing. That was—until she witnessed the stormy development of Beca and Chloe’s relationship and its absurd palpability (even when Jesse was still a thing). It took years for them to fess up and confront this connection between them, even when it was so clear in the eyes of everybody else around. But when they did, everything just felt…right. They all felt it in the Bellas’ household. Like everything was in its place at last.

When the captains finally got together, a thought had occurred to Stacie. Why on earth was she limiting her own dating pool to just men, when women had plenty to offer as well? (And not to mention people who identified beyond this binary.) She had never excluded any type of person when it came to hooking up. It felt natural that she approached her dating life in the same vein.

It was a simple shift in perspective really, one that caused her to look at all her relationships with the people in her life through the same lens, and to be sensitive to any potential candidates regardless of their gender. It was an attitude that broadened her experiences even more, and once it did, she couldn’t imagine having it any other way.

Which brings us back to the circumstances now, almost 5 years later. Now that Stacie had seen plenty of men and women of different shapes and sizes…been on plenty of dates and saw a few relationships through (enough to know what she liked and didn’t like)…Now that she wasn’t seeing anybody—hadn’t been seeing anybody for the past half a year or so, but had been casually looking… It gave her something to consider.

Hm.

Food for thought.

 

* * *

 

Not even two days later, she got a message from Aubrey in the middle of the afternoon. The brunette set down the sample she was examining and removed her gloves to take a peek at her phone.

_Stacie, you will not believe what happened at work today._

_???_

_Ugh.  
_ _Nate just asked me if I had plans next week, for Valentine’s Day. *puke emoji*_

Stacie laughed out loud at the little green emoji face. (As an aside, she noted how much Aubrey had evolved, at least enough to be able to poke fun at herself like that.) On the other hand, she deeply sympathized with the blonde’s unfortunate situation.

_Yikes! Fuck Bree, that’s a drag. :( Have you tried talking to him?_

_Once, and I thought we were clear!  
_ _I don’t even know what to do anymore. A part of me feels like I should just go on one date and be an absolute bore so he’ll shut up and let me be._

A surge of…something filled Stacie’s gut all of a sudden at that reply, and okay, so this was beginning to become a cause for alarm.

_NO Bree_

Hunched over her desk with her phone in a viselike grip, it was all she could articulate.

 _Relax, I’m just kidding. :p  
_ _I’d rather third wheel with Beca and Chloe than subject myself to that kind of torture._

The monumental wave of relief Stacie felt should have left her embarrassed.

_Wow, high claims, Posen._

The brunette leaned back in her chair with a huff and shook herself from the mini rollercoaster of emotions she just experienced. That was…a lot to process…the most obvious feeling being glad that Aubrey seemed to be consistently uninterested in this Nate guy. Which was a good thing.

Stacie sighed. She knew she would eventually have to work out what she was going to do with all these new things that Aubrey was making her feel. But for now, she let herself revel in the assurance of the blonde’s last message.

A thought came into mind after a couple minutes, and Stacie picked up her phone to send one more text.

_So…Bloe toners over boners?_

_I cannot believe… Did you just…?_

_;)_

—

  
Aubrey smirked fondly at the little winky face on her phone. If all 5’8” of Stacie Conrad could be summarized by two little glyphs, that would be it.

The blonde sighed as she set her phone aside with the intention of getting her head back into work. She didn’t normally do this—texting during work hours. She’d held the strict opinion that doing so would scatter the attention and prove to be less conducive to a steady work flow. But…it seemed that she’d been making a few exceptions lately.

Okay, so maybe it was nice to actually take a break from reading documents and staring at her screen for eight hours straight. She could spare a couple seconds here and there. And honestly, it had been pretty heartening to get a message from Stacie on some of those particularly rough days. Even the simple things helped to mitigate a fraction of her baseline grumpiness.

Beyond the amusing texts, there was a certain level of intrigue too that Aubrey couldn’t quite shake around this new image of Stacie that she reconnected with. A Stacie who now worked at a lab every day and spewed out random facts about the chemical compounds that went into the hand lotion Aubrey used, but nevertheless, the same Stacie who watched every single episode of the Bachelor and kept up with the latest hits on the pop charts.

In a weird way, connecting with the brunette again introduced a spark of novelty into her life—one that Aubrey welcomed into the ordinary routine she had established for herself thus far. It was actually really nice to have her day randomly interrupted by a cute animal photo, or an impromptu thesis on why she needed to stop using her brand of eyeliner, _right now_.

And even though their texting had been quite sporadic and light, there were a few moments every now and then that made Aubrey feel…a certain kind of way. A way that she couldn’t exactly place a finger on.

Again, it was sort of that…familiar yet new kind of feeling. An elusive quality that felt like words at the tip of her tongue.

Something that felt borderline…intimate.

Or…who knows. Maybe it was just her.

 

* * *

 

So, Stacie had been doing some thinking.

Not out of want. Out of coercion, really.

Coercion in the form of heart balloons and garish arrangements of bouquets every corner she turned.

It wasn’t that she disliked Valentine’s Day. She’d historically been a fan. Sure, it’s mass-market consumerism striking again, but hey, if it pressured people into showing their appreciation for those who were important in their lives, great. Why the hell not.

It also might be the fact that Stacie had, without fail, gotten something for Valentine’s every year since the day she was born. Her parents, while separated, had _always_ sent her something individually. And Stacie was never one to be coy about her own popularity. All throughout middle-school, high-school, and college, she’d been at the receiving end of plenty of chocolates, cards and flowers. It was a given; the same way the sun came up every morning. She’d be dishonest if she said she didn’t look forward to it when the day came around.

But this year was the first time the brunette had ever wanted to… _do_ something with it. For somebody else. It had never really come up before—the desire to. The need to.

Except everywhere she looked she saw red and pink and _Aubrey_.

Aubrey.

And, well…Stacie had been doing some thinking.  


—

   
In a crazed bout, she’d driven herself into a resolution. Well, maybe that’s a little too prematurely definitive—more like a hypothesis. Yes, a hypothesis.

A shaky one at that, but every frenzied episode of investigative thought had trailed back to the same place.

Still, she had to be sure. She had to collect some data.

So she picked up the phone and called Chloe.

_“Stacie, hi!”_

“Hey Chloe! Is this a good time?”

 _“Yeah, totes. I was just leaving the gym.”_ Stacie heard a low ruffle on the other end of the line from the redhead’s movements. _“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you. What’s up, Stace? How are you??”_

Stacie smiled at the energy practically radiating from her voice. Chloe just had a way with that.

“I’m doing good! Work’s been treating me really well lately. Really liking it here in Chicago.  
How are you and Beca doing? It’s been a while.”

_“I know, it has! I still miss the Bellas every day… Becs and I are doing fine. She landed a permanent gig at this huge club a few months ago and it’s been amazing. You really need to come visit!”_

Stacie grinned. “Oh yeah, I’m definitely down for some partying to DJ Mitch’s sweet tunes.” She waggled her eyebrows and heard Chloe giggle as if she saw it.

_“Anyway, so what’s this about? Did you need to talk about something?”_

Chloe’s earnest voice caused Stacie to blush. A part of her tried to search for the right words to start with (the ones she had tried to preemptively plan before initiating this conversation), while the other thought to forget and drop everything and change the topic.

No.

She’d made a decision.

“Chloe, I need to ask you something.”

She took a deep breath as stood up from the couch and scuttled back and forth around her living room, body fidgeting while her brain was muddled by the intense focus on the phone against her ear.

“I need to ask you something, Chloe, and you gotta answer without making a big deal out of it, okay?”

The change of tone had piqued the redhead’s interest instantly. _“Yes! Okay, I promise.”_ Stacie could hear the suspense almost crushing her friend on the other line.

“And you need to promise to keep this between the two of us.”

_“Yes, Stacie. I PROMISE. Cross my heart, hope to die, in the name of the Bellas and Christina Aguilera and—”_

“Does Aubrey date girls?”

 

* * *

 

The line went silent for a good minute and a half. The only thing Stacie could hear was her own heart and breathing.

_“Oh. My. God.”_

“Chloe,” she warned.

_“Oh my ga— I’m sorry Stace. I— Oh my god… Oh my god! Yes. Yes Stacie, she does.”_

Okay.

This was good.

Good news. Great news even.

_“Not exclusively, I don’t think. But she has, dated girls I mean. Only two that I know of. But—And she doesn’t like making big statements about that kind of stuff. But yes, I’m pretty sure she’s open to it.”_

Normally, Chloe wouldn’t be giving out such private information about her best friend’s personal life to somebody else. But if this conversation was anywhere near where she thought it was going (which she was 88% sure about so far), she would happily fling over any and every detail in a heartbeat. Sign her up.

“Okay,” Stacie finally said resolutely. “Okay, that’s good to know.”

Another pause on the line. Half a minute of them just breathing and existing in connected space at the same time.

The brunette could physically feel the question coming.

_“Are you…”_

“I’m thinking about it.”

The incredibly high-pitched squeal that pierced her ears over the phone was honestly a little impressive.

“I wanted to make sure—”

_“Stacie! Oh my god. This is…”_

“Chlo…” she tried to warn again.

_“Sorry! Sorry! It’s just—Stacie, you have nothing to worry about. I am sure she’ll say yes.”_

The younger girl bit her lip. She hadn’t even given much thought into what would happen if Aubrey said no. Would that make things weird between them? Like forever? Would they never speak to each other again, or have to awkwardly make uncomfortable small talk at every single Bellas reunion that came after?

Stacie must have been lost in her spiral of thought for longer than she meant, because it took a second time for her to focus back onto Chloe’s voice.

_“Stace! I said you have nothing to worry about. I mean it.”_

A grunt told Chloe that her friend was not quite convinced.

_“I probably shouldn’t be sharing this, but I’m pretty sure she had a thing for you in college. Seriously. After the first week of rehearsals, she said you would be our only saving grace if nobody else got their shit together. And I can’t even count the number of times she’s told me how fit she thought you were.”_

They both laughed at that. And in a moment, Stacie flashed back to the dinner they had a month ago, and the way Aubrey had eyed her body appreciatively. Maybe she stood a chance after all? It’s so hard to tell with women.

Stacie heaved a sigh. “Thanks Chloe. We’ll see what happens.”

_“Stacie, trust me. If there’s anybody who knows Aubrey, it’s me. And I am a hundred percent in support of this, Stace. A hundred, freakin percent.”_

“Okay, that’s good. Because I might need to run some things by you to make sure I don’t make a dumbass out of myself.”

_“Oh my god, YES. Let’s plan this muthafrickin thing. Operation: Bag the Captain. No, wait. Hook, Line and Sinker. Oh, OH! Bone the Bella!!”_

“Uhm…call it whatever you want Chlo. Just, keep it on the DL okay? I gotta be…delicate.”

 _“Yes, you got it, Stace. Lips. Are. Sealed.”_ The redhead made a motion of zipping up her lips even though it was only for her own benefit.

“Yeah, ‘cause if it backfires, at least I’ll have _some_ dignity left.”

_“Oh please, Stace. You got game and you know it.”_

The younger girl hummed as she mulled everything over in her mind.

_“So, what’s the plan?”_

“Well… I was thinking…”

 


	3. Chapter 3

When the elevator doors pinged open to reveal her office floor, Aubrey rolled her eyes. She forgot that Mia, their receptionist, had gone and decorated the entire area, not to mention the kitchen and every instance of common space on their floor. It wasn’t tacky per say. (Mia wasn’t dense; she certainly knew that the only means to get away with decorating for every seasonal event out there was to ensure it was tastefully done. Also, she’d add, it was important to make their clients feel comfortable when they arrive.) But ever the skeptic, Aubrey’s convulsive response was to scoff—respectively out of earshot—at the display.

She found it ironic that people would need to be reminded by an arbitrary, commercialized day to show their love for their significant others. How is a cheap stuffed bear with a heart sewed into its paws (and the creepiest set of eyes ever designed) meant to encapsulate, solidify, proclaim, or whatever the hell it is, a meaningful relationship with another person? And why did everything have to look so _kitsch_?

Biting her tongue, Aubrey mumbled a sullen ‘morning’ as she was wont to do at this early hour.

“Good morning Aubrey. You have some mail and a package.”

Hm, she didn’t recall ordering anything.

“Thanks Mia.” She grabbed her post, attempting to examine them and balance her coffee as she swiped herself into the frosted glass doors that led into the offices.

When she got into her own office, she only had enough time to go through the letters before Monique had knocked to do a quick check-in before a 9am meeting. Monday mornings were always a rush, no matter how early she got to work. Back-to-back meetings to attend, urgent emails to respond to, phone calls to make, (interns to drill). She’d almost forgotten about the unusual package until she finally returned from a late lunch.

Clearing her desk a little from the multiple stacks of live files, she finally reached for the small parcel. It was wrapped in a light kraft paper, neatly discreet. When she gently tore it open, she was surprised to find a box of chocolates.

One of her favorite kinds, found only in her home state and a few select artisanal markets in the city.

Within the wrapping, she found a small card.

_Something sweet to start off the week._

She flipped it over and furrowed her eyebrows when she was met with a blank side.

Who sent this?

She examined the writing again. Angled, with a trace of script flourish. She knew this wasn’t Chloe’s wider-set handwriting, but she wanted to make sure.

_Did you send me chocolates?_

While she waited for a response, Aubrey opened the box and popped one into her mouth.

Pure bliss.

She opened her eyes again when her phone buzzed from Chloe’s response.

_Ummm….no, but now I feel like I should have :(((_

Aubrey chuckled at her best friend.

 _Sorry Chlo, this wasn’t meant to be a guilt trip! You know I’m not a fan of Vday.  
_ _I’m just trying to figure out who sent me some._

 _!!!!  
_ _Bree! Do you have a secret admirer???_

Aubrey thought for a moment, then widened her eyes.

_Oh shit. I wonder if it was Nate. Ew._

_That lawyer who keeps hitting on you?_

_Yeah…  
_ _But then again, he hardly knows me enough to know what I like._

_Could be somebody else? OMG, a secret admirer, how exciting!! I’ve always wanted one._

_You had one for 4 years._

_Pffff, you know it doesn’t count when she was pseudo-dating a boy the entire time.  
_ _Did it come with a note or anything?_

Aubrey snapped her a quick photo.

 _OOoooooooooo  
_ _How mysterious. I like it._

Aubrey rolled her eyes. Of course Chloe would be enjoying this.

 _I’m just going to wait and see if Nate says anything about it.  
_ _If not, maybe the culprit will reveal themselves later._

_Keep me posted!!_

Aubrey sighed and finally set her phone aside. She eyed the card curiously, skeptically.

It wasn’t like she had been seeing anybody recently. To be honest, it’s been well over a year since Aubrey had gone on a proper date. She’d been busy, especially with the increasing amount of cases she took on and an overall added responsibility within the firm. It just wasn’t on her list of priorities at the moment.

Okay, or maybe it was never on her list of priorities in the first place, but to each their own.

Truth be told, Aubrey never had the best of luck when it came to dating. Not that she had any difficulty meeting people, or even being asked out for that matter. On the rare occasions that she did go out, she could expect at least two or three guys approaching her in the course of an evening. She was even pretty good at weeding them out up front, with a frank dismissal if one of them revealed themselves to be a sleazy, brainless douchebag. But while her stringent selective process was helpful in filtering them down to those she deemed worthy of her time, the real issue was that after a while, no one seemed interested enough to stay. Aubrey’s therapist told her that she tends to bully them out of the relationship (which, to be fair, only meant that they didn’t have a strong enough backbone and were therefore incompatible.) But she knows, she _knows_ it’s because of her tendency to put her career and work before anything else. She just needed whoever she was seeing to respect that. Of course, it still was a drag when your date cancelled plans for the 3rd consecutive time over having to practice her speech for a court case the next day. She supposed she couldn’t fault them for wanting somebody a little more present.

It didn’t help that Aubrey was painfully picky either. She would always find one thing that was wrong, or something that bothered her about the other person, no matter how minor it may be. She knew she wasn’t being fair at all, but it was like a reflex she couldn’t stop.

Take Nate, per say. (Alright, let’s go there.) He’s traditionally handsome, a good height, well-dressed, clearly financially well-off, and decent at his job (he’s not brilliant, but he’s not completely _incompetent_ ). Her mother would die of happiness if she brought him home to meet the family.

But she was just…not interested in him. College Aubrey probably would have been. But now, it was easy for her to read his overconfidence as cockiness, easy to find his single-minded worldview ignorant. Was Aubrey being a little harsh? Probably. Did Nate deserve to be rejected a 4th time? Definitely.

Aubrey finally set the card and box of chocolates aside and tried to get back to work.

She hoped it wasn’t Nate. She’d rather it be from any one of her clients than be from him.

Actually, no, that would be just as weird.

She’ll get to the bottom of this.

 

* * *

 

Nate didn’t end up mentioning it when she did run into him on her way out. However, when he started to bring up his proposal from the previous week, she promptly pretended to be in a hurry and cut him off with a rushed goodbye.

The next day, Aubrey had to spend most of her morning at an offsite meeting with one of her clients. There was a lot to discuss and facilitate with a large group of stakeholders, and by the time she arrived back at her office building, she was absolutely drained.

“Aubrey! This came in for you today!” Mia’s timbre was suspiciously cheery.

The blonde spun around with a raised brow and noted the bouquet of flowers that Mia was presenting to her, with a near smug expression she was failing to hide from her face. (Smug only because she had been witnessing Aubrey’s nonverbal seething ever since the Valentine’s decorations had been put up.)

Aubrey reached for them, and sure enough, there was a little envelope attached with her name on it.

“Um. Thanks.” Aubrey ducked her head to hide the growing flush on her face, and quickly turned to head into the office.

Once in the privacy of her own space, she took a good look at her most recent delivery.

It was a small but very beautifully arranged bouquet of light-colored flowers. They smelled lovely and their presence in the room already made it feel unexpectedly brighter.

Aubrey detached the card and quickly opened it to read the message inside.

_I hope you’re not allergic._

Aubrey couldn’t help but smile. She promptly grabbed the card she got the day before for comparison and confirmed it was the same handwriting.

Okay, so she had never been a fan of surprises, but this turned out to be…kind of fun. Don’t get her wrong, she was still a little wary of what _stranger_ could be sending her these things, and directly to her office no less. But she figured, if this person had the details of where she worked, it had to be someone she knew. Maybe it was just one of her friends being sweet.

Or. Maybe it was a psycho stalker who bribed their way into obtaining all this very private information about her.

Okay, that was just Aubrey’s cynical side showing. She figured the worst to come out of this situation would be at _most_ an awkward, apologetic turn-down.

In the meantime, she couldn’t see why she shouldn’t just enjoy it.

Aubrey found a large empty mason jar in the shared kitchen and made a space at the corner of her desk to place the flowers.

 

* * *

 

By Wednesday, she was piqued enough to anticipate whatever was next in store for her. Mostly, she told herself, it was out of an interest to find out more about who might be behind this. (The two gifts had felt far too genuine to be a farce of some sort.)

It took until late afternoon for something to show up.

Her colleague Monique had knocked lightly on her open door, brandishing a small package in her hand.

“Hey girl, this just came in for you up front.”

She received it graciously. “Thanks Mon.”

“Someone special?” her friend teased.

Aubrey arched a brow at her in challenge. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Monique grinned and held her hands up. “Alright, I won’t pry. Yet,” she added pointedly. “You’re lucky I’m in a hurry.” She shot the blonde a look before stepping out of the office. Aubrey shook her head and turned her attention back to the object in her hands.

It was a small box wrapped in pink. Smaller than the first one she got.

Biting her lip, she opened it to find a box of candy hearts. She rolled her eyes at its cheesiness.

She promptly looked around for a message that came with it, but curiously came out with nothing. Just a box of candy.

“Hm.”

So much for trying to figure this person out.

She shrugged and opened the box of candy, pouring a few out onto her hand. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had these. Middle-school?

Just as she popped one into her mouth, she took a closer look at some of the messages that were stamped onto the little pastel hearts.

One on her palm said “UR BEAUTIFUL, IT’S TRU” and another, “CALL ME MAYBE”.

Hold on a second.

She poured out a couple more onto her desk. “Oh my god.” Aubrey had almost forgotten how it felt to be giddy.

“DON’T U WANT ME BABY”

“TAKE ME AWAY”

“HOPELESSLY DEVOTED 2 U”

She had to bite her lip to keep herself from smiling (and breaking out into song) at every little message she was reading. She couldn’t stop a giggle from emitting and reflexively glanced up at her doorway to make sure nobody was around to hear her.

“U CAN STAND UNDER MY ☂”

“I’M A SLAVE 4 U”

Cheeky.

It’s funny because for some reason, all this over-the-top flirtatiousness really reminded her of…

Aubrey paused hard for a moment. Her breath caught in her throat.

But…

There’s no way…

Could it?

It was kind of a ridiculous thought. And it made Aubrey feel a little embarrassed to have felt for a split second…excited about it.

Wait. But what did it even mean, that she was excited about it? By the idea of it?

Ugh, she wasn’t going to get _any_ work done for the rest of today.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too cheesy?
> 
> ;p


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter. Can y'all do me a favor and pretend we're still in the middle of Feb. Thanks~  
> To quote one of my favorite characters, “kind of always late, kind of always sorry.”  
> Timing has never been my strongest suit.
> 
> (ps - As always, thanks for the comments and kudos so far!)

 

“Happy Valentine’s Day Aubrey.”

The blonde grunted and shot Mia a borderline incredulous look. This was definitely not how she wanted to start her morning.

Luckily for her, Mia was quite accustomed to dealing with each of lawyers’ temperaments (Aubrey wasn't even the least social of the crew at this hour of the day.) Mia never took any of it personally, and instead found humor in every situation. She understood that it was a stressful job, and sometimes the lawyers inadvertently took out their frustrations on the wrong people. (She’d gotten an apology pastry from Aubrey twice now.)

So she let the blonde sulk her way quietly into the office.

She was curious about one thing though. Who the heck had been sending Aubrey all these Valentine’s gifts?

  
—

  
When Aubrey got into her office, she immediately noticed a new box of chocolates on her desk. She recognized it as one of the pricier kinds, ones that she had never tried herself but had always associated an ostentatious quality with. She grabbed the envelope attached and opened it.

 _Happy Valentines Day  
_ _\- from Nate_

Aubrey rolled her eyes to the back of her head and groaned out loud. She huffed frustratedly, dismissed the gift and sourly went about her morning routine in an attempt not to think about it. In an agitated state, she set up her computer, organized her desk, and proceeded to flick through some documents.

_Honestly, it’s like the guy can’t take a hint._

She shook her head, seething.

_Well, like he can’t take a blunt rejection in the face either._

Aubrey was in the middle of typing up an email (perhaps a little too aggressively), when a thought occurred to her.

She grabbed Nate’s card and set it beside one of the others she’d been receiving for comparison.

Different handwriting. That much she suspected.

A part of her knew, knew that Nate couldn’t possibly be as nuanced and thoughtful with his presents. But she wanted to make extra sure. It was as if she needed visual proof to solidify that she _did_ in fact have another admirer, one that she had yet to discover but also one that was definitely, most crucially _not_ Nate.

That made her feel a little better actually.

But she was anxious. All she could infer about this other person was that they were likely a friend; they had to be, with how well they seemed to know Aubrey. It would be cute if it were from a friend. She just wanted to set her mind at ease already about it (hopefully) not being a weirdo.

A sudden notification on her desktop snapped her out of her thoughts by reminding her that she had a meeting in ten minutes. She sighed.

Time to start the day.

—

  
An impromptu client visit at their firm had thrown her and her team’s schedules off kilter. They ended up having an intensive meeting in one of the conference rooms and afterwards had accompanied them to lunch before finally getting back to their intended agenda for the day. That was how Aubrey’s schedule was often like. She’d been working there for close to 3 years now, and some days were still completely unpredictable. But she liked that it kept her on her feet, that it kept her mind alert and ready. While mentally demanding, it’s days like these that made her feel the most productive.

It did mean that she had a few hours of work to catch up on though. She barely had to ask before Keith and Monique sprang from their seats to join her on a coffee run. Unfortunately, Nate overheard too and decided to tag along. Aubrey’s friends each shot her a look as they all made their way out of the office.

“Someone get me a latte please!” Mia piped from behind the reception desk.

On the way to their go-to cafe, Nate eagerly joined steps with Aubrey.

“Did you like the chocolates?” Aubrey tried really hard to constrict her groan to her inside voice.

“Oh yeah, thank you for those. You really didn’t have to.” _Really, really didn’t have to._

“You’re welcome.” He had a proud smile on his face. Aubrey almost pitied him.

“Here, I’ll get you your coffee in return. What did you want?” she asked when they got to the register of the cafe. She knew he might take it the wrong way, but it was purely for selfish reasons. She didn’t want to owe him anything.

Luckily, with Monique and Keith there, he didn’t get much of a chance to further bring up prospects of a date. Aubrey made an extra effort to keep her friends within the loop as an attempt to steer the conversation. When they got back up to their office, Aubrey found an inconspicuous moment to shoot Keith a ‘thanks for nothing’ look—one that he responded to with a sheepish smile and a shrug.

“One latte, whole milk, with a splash of syrup,” Aubrey announced as she set the paper cup down on the front desk.

“Thanks Aubrey. How much do I owe you?” Mia asked, grabbing her wallet.

The blonde waved her off. “I was kind of a bitch this morning.”

“That’s how you are every morning.”

Aubrey gaped while Mia’s grin grew playfully wider. “Don’t you dare think that I won’t take that latte back,” she warned, but unable to keep the smirk from her lips.

“I mean, thanks for the coffee Aubrey.”

The blonde ‘hmph’-ed in approval and turned to follow the rest of her colleagues through the glass doors.

“Oh wait, you got mail today!”

Aubrey spun back around to be handed a small red envelope.

As she examined the piece of stationery, she noticed that Mia was watching her intently too, oddly with the same level of anticipation that she was feeling. Aubrey raised an eyebrow at her and Mia promptly turned back to her computer.

When Aubrey got back to her office, she hesitated in opening the letter. A simple, nondescript red envelope that had her name scribbled on top. She didn’t know what it was, but it had a sense of finality about it. Plopping down on her chair, she began to brood.

What if this revealed mystery-person turned out to be an absolute weirdo, or someone that she hated? Or what if this was all just an elaborate prank.

Now she felt silly for ever getting excited.

What if it was a friend that she really didn’t like that way?

Oh well… An awkward letdown wouldn’t be the end of the world. It didn’t mean that she was any less appreciative of the kind gifts.

She inhaled deeply and opened the envelope.

Tucked inside was just a simple form.

_Will you be my Valentine?_

◻︎  _Yes (as a date)  
_ ◻︎  _Yes (as a friend)_

This time, in the same handwriting as all the other cards that came before, it was signed.

_xx Stacie_

 

* * *

 

Aubrey swore she stopped breathing for a good moment.

_Oh my god._

_Oh. My. God._

This was really happening?

She stared into the card clutched within her hands for what felt like an hour. A vicious cycle in her brain had kickstarted, and every 10 seconds she had to reiterate to herself that _yes_ , it was in fact signed ‘Stacie’. Very clearly spelled out.

And with a heavy suggestion of wanting to be more than friends.

Because that’s what this was…right?

Planning a series of very thoughtful, unique _Valentine’s Day_ gifts for someone was definitely more than typical _friendly_ behavior.

Right?

She began reliving each present she got during the week. The chocolates, the lovely flowers, the _ridiculously_ amusing candy hearts…

Glacially, it settled in.

Aubrey felt a heavy rippling in her chest when she pictured Stacie thinking about her that way. She blushed intensely at the attention. She never would have fathomed that the inkling in her gut ended up being right. It was almost too much—the nauseous wave of feelings that began twisting within her at this revelation.

And of course, of _course_ the younger girl would be cheeky about it, yet thoughtful enough to give her an easy out. To be confident enough to preempt a secondary response as a shot at curbing any awkwardness that could happen between the two of them.

Aubrey shook her head and held the card up once more. Still intact after fifteen minutes of her gaze burning through it, confirming that this really wasn’t some mad dream.

God. Imagine that.

Stacie fucking Conrad.

 

* * *

 

Stacie was a colossal _wreck_ the entire day.

She could barely sleep the night before, which led to her attention being scattered, which led to her missing the bus and being half an hour late to work. She felt exhausted so she had an extra tall cup of coffee, which she didn’t normally do, and so she ended up fidgeting nonstop in her seat for the whole morning.

She’d been so wrapped up in herself that she was caught off-guard when suddenly presented with chocolates, flowers, and even a little plush heart—all from different people around the office and lab. Most of the gifts were from the colleagues she was good friends with, but some of them were from guys who were clearly trying to ask her out. While distracted, Stacie tried her sincerest to let them down easy, going with the excuse that she’d already had plans.

Plans that someone could make or break at any second.

She glared holes into her phone and inadvertently let out a frustrated groan. Her coworkers who were stationed nearby and had a good grasp on her moods obviously noticed the restlessness.

“You alright there, Stace?” they asked, shooting her goofy looks.

But the brunette only let out another strangled noise and went back to the scarily intense focus on her work.

Every once in a while, her eyes darted again to the phone that was laying dormant on her desk.

“UGH.”

Was this how boys felt when they asked girls out?

Because this was fucking _awful_.

Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Maybe she shouldn’t have let herself come up with this plan. She knew it was a little much to be sending one thing every day. And anonymously too, like a freakin creep. (But Chloe thought it was a good idea!)

Stacie brusquely flipped her phone over on its face and pushed it as far away as she could to the corner of the worktable. Then she threw on her headphones, put on a playlist, and proceeded to focus on analyzing the hell out of the chemical compound under her microscope.

When lunchtime came around, she made a point of leaving her phone behind because she desperately wanted to prove to herself that she had some goddamn self-control. But all throughout her meal she was extremely distracted, no matter how hard she tried to participate in her colleagues’ shared conversation even when they mentioned some of her favorite nerdy things. She practically sprinted back to her workstation when they returned to the lab.

But her phone came up empty upon retrieval.

_Fuck._

She tossed it aside haphazardly.

What if she ruined it?

What if things were going to be extra weird between them now?

What if they won’t ever, ever, ever—

She was startled by an extra loud ‘bzz-bzzt’ caused by the vibration of her phone on the tabletop.

Stacie sat motionless and waited for at least 30 seconds before snatching it up to see the notification.

 _Aubrey Posen_ _sent an image._

Her heart lurched and dropped to her stomach.

Unsteadily, she swiped at the screen and tapped on the thumbnail.

It was a photo of the card she had sent, with a heart drawn inside the checkbox of the first answer.

Stacie could have fainted from the emotional marathon she just ran. She released a shaky breath that she’d been holding all week.

Biting her lip, she deliberated for a good minute before tapping a response to the blonde.

 

* * *

 

_Thank fucking god._

Aubrey’s lips broke out into a wide smile at Stacie’s overt relief, and the implication that her response matter that much to the brunette.

_I never pictured you as a sap._

_Hey!!_  
_You’re not allowed to be mean to me when you’ve kept me in angst all day.  
_ _I also happen to know that you secretly love sappy things._

Aubrey raised an eyebrow at that and a thought dawned on her.

_You got inside help didn’t you? I should have known._

She made a mental note to give Chloe a phone call (and a piece of her mind) later.

_Resourcefulness is one of my many fine qualities. ;)_

Aubrey giggled, but then promptly recomposed herself when she realized how much of a schoolgirl she was acting like. If anybody in the office saw her right now, she would never live it down.

Another text from Stacie came through.

 _I was worried you might’ve thought it was Nate.  
_ _Or if another Stacie in your life got all the credit for my hard work._

The blonde practically swooned on the inside at a glimpse of the younger girl’s vulnerability. But she couldn’t help but tease.

_My downstairs neighbor has a cat named Stacie, but I figured it couldn’t be her._

_Hah. Nice one Posen._

Okay, maybe she felt a little bad for taunting, especially when it was obvious that Stacie had put a lot of effort into making everything happen in the last few days.

_You didn’t have to worry though. I was sure that Nate couldn’t have come up with anything half as thoughtful. The gifts were really sweet. Thank you <3_

She had debated whether or not she wanted to send the heart, but decided to keep it last second.

_:)_

Even a simple smiley in response caused butterflies to erupt in her stomach. Aubrey fondly reached for the box of candy hearts she’d gotten and picked one out. She rolled her eyes in amusement when she got a “HIT ME BABY”.

A sudden knock on her door almost caused Aubrey to leap out of her seat.

“You okay there?” asked Keith with a smirk. God, she could only hope that he didn’t catch sight of the dopey face she was surely making a few seconds ago.

She quickly composed herself. “Yes…I’m fine.”

“Got time for a quick consult?”

Oh right, she was at work.

—

  
Half an hour later of actually being productive at her job, Aubrey was finally able to return to her desk to check on her phone once more. A part of her hated that she was surreptitiously acting like a teen again, but at the slightest thought of Stacie, all rationale went out the window.

She found a message waiting for her.

_By the way…do you have plans tomorrow night?_

Hm. Interesting question.

_No…why?_

_Are you free for dinner?_

Aubrey raised her brows.

_You’re in town?_

She watched the ellipses bubble for a good moment, starting and stopping several times before a message finally appeared.

 _I’m flying in tomorrow morning.  
_ _For a meeting._

Hmmmm.

Aubrey had a suspicious feeling that this was not at all a work-related trip that the brunette was taking. She felt absurdly giddy at the thought of somebody going out of their way to do things for her. The thought of _Stacie_ going out of her way to do things for her. She decided to let the teasing slide, for now.

_I’d love to have dinner tomorrow._

_Great!!  
_ _How does 7 sound?_

Aubrey chuckled and shook her head at this girl.

_You had this all planned out didn’t you?_

_I told you I’m resourceful._

_Clearly.  
_ _And 7 is perfect._

Aubrey leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath in.

Fuck.

She was going on a date with Stacie Conrad.

 

* * *

 

The second she got home from work, she called the first person on her speed dial. It took under two rings for them to pick up.

_“Did you say ‘yes’???”_

“I. Cannot. Believe you. Chloe Beale.”

 _“Okay! Okay! I’m sorry for meddling, but it’s only ‘cause I love you!  
_ _But seriously, what did you say???”_

“Of course I said ‘yes’ Chloe! I’m not an imbecile!”

A piercing screech caused Aubrey to yank her phone away from her ear. Only when the burst of enthusiastic ramble had faintly died down did she return the device to its original position.

“When did you…? How much did you tell...” The blonde took a deep breath. “Explain.”

_“Okay, I swear I didn’t say much. She just called out of the blue one day asking if you dated girls. And Bree, of course I had to tell her! It was obvious why she was asking. She just needed enough reassurance to go for it!”_

“Hmm…”

_“You know how it is. Some people are hard to read—and especially when you’re friends. It was the same deal with Beca.”_

“Okay, but Beca was _very_ clear to read. She just needed to get her head out of her ass and look into a mirror.”

 _“Alright, maybe Becs wasn’t the best example._  
_All I’m saying is that I just told her you were open to dating women.  
_ _Which is true, isn’t it? I mean, you’ve clearly said yes—”_

“Yes, Chloe.” Aubrey rubbed a hand over her face in thought. “Was that all?”

 _“Yes!_  
_Okay, well…  
_ _I may have also shared a theory of mine…”_

“Which is…?”

_“Well, the fact that you had a tiny thing for her in college.”_

“Chloe!” Aubrey gasped.

_“What? Bree, it was the only way she’d be comfortable enough to ask you out!”_

The blonde sighed and fell back into her couch. As much as she disliked Chloe having shared a secret without her knowledge (she could only hope that the redhead hadn’t blown everything out of proportion), she understood her intentions.

“Yeah. I get it.”

She heard her best friend cackle on the other line.

_“Anybody would hesitate, Bree. You don’t exactly scream ‘gay’.”_

Aubrey scoffed. “I’m not.”

_“I know. Maybe I should’ve phrased it this way: You’ve never exactly been overt about dating women.”_

She sighed again. “I know.” They’ve had this conversation before. An evolving dialogue that began in their junior year at Barden when she walked in on Chloe making out with a girl in the bathroom of some frat party. They ended up leaving and stayed up all night in their shared dorm talking about sexuality and what it meant to feel attracted to both boys and girls. It was an eye opener for Aubrey, who had never once thought about it before that moment. In between comforting a drunk and whimpering Chloe, promising her that they would still be best friends forever, and having vulnerable discussions about societal expectations and valid feelings, Aubrey realized that things weren’t necessarily black and white all the time.

While she instantly accepted this outlook for Chloe, a few more years had to pass before she actually took an honest look at herself.

It wasn’t an easy process, and in no way was it a completed one.

(She didn’t even want to get into the crippling weight of her father’s inevitable disappointment if he found out that his only daughter wasn’t “normal”.)

But as she grew older, saw more things, met more people, (and started seeing a therapist semi-regularly to work on the kind of life she wanted to lead, the person she wanted to be), Aubrey decided that she owed it to herself to try everything at least once.

So she went out with a girl in her grad program. And it shattered the false image of it being a scary, monumental thing. The girl was sweet, understanding, and openly validated Aubrey’s previous relationships with guys in her life (she could not thank her enough for this). They didn’t end up working out, but afterwards, it was clear to Aubrey how stifled she felt under the pressure of living up to a fake, advertised idea of what romance and love and relationships looked like.

So _yes_ , she was open to dating women. But men and women alike, she only had a very select few over the course of her life so far that she was genuinely interested in.

It just…kind of caught her off guard that one of these people wound up being Stacie Conrad.

But, off guard in a good way. In a rather…charmed way.

 _“How are you feeling?”_ She heard Chloe ask after a long moment of listening to Aubrey thinking over the phone.

The blonde hummed for a moment. “Well…I guess I’m a little nervous. But…” She thought about Stacie’s texts from earlier in the day, and how she had obviously, obviously planned a trip to New York just to see her. A smile appeared on her lips on its own accord.

_“Oh my god. You are so whipped Aubrey Posen!”_

“Wha— Chloe don’t be ridiculous right now.”

_“No—Don’t even try. I know that voice!”_

“What voice?!” But even Aubrey couldn’t keep the grin off her face.

_“Yeah, yeah. You can thank me and my matchmaking skills later.”_

“Pffff.” She rolled her eyes.

 _“Okay, so.”_ Now, Aubrey knew exactly what _that_ tone was—girl talk time.

_“I know about the chocolates because I helped her. But what else did she get you??”_

The blonde chuckled. It’s times like these when she missed seeing her best friend every day.

“Well, after the chocolates, she got me flowers.”

_“Oh my god how sweet! I hope Beca gets me some tonight.”_

“Please, Chloe, that girl will move mountains for you. It’s a matter of how many dozens.”

_“Hmmm chocolates and flowers. Didn’t take Stacie to be a traditional kind of gal.”_

“Oh, she’s not. You won’t even guess what else she sent me.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd ya think??
> 
> Tell me in the comments. I always love to read your thoughts & reactions!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter was the most fun for me to write. Lots of my favorite bits in here, so I hope you like it.

Aubrey couldn’t focus at _all_ the next day.

Sure, it was in part because she was tired from not getting enough sleep, but this was hardly a rare occurrence within the schedules she kept. The usual double shot of coffee would have easily solved the issue.

It was just…

…really hard to get a particular brunette out of her head.

Never had she ever felt so…embarrassingly _scattered_. She could hardly spend two minutes by herself without spacing out in deep anticipation for the evening to come. It wasn’t even noon yet and she was already incredibly antsy. She thought she’d gotten some of the ‘freaking out’ and gushing (yes, she’ll admit it) out of her system when she called Chloe up the night before. But ever since she’d arrived that morning, Aubrey could hardly sit still in her seat.

It did not help that she couldn’t stow away her phone because she had clients and partners calling her up all the time. There was a point in the middle of the day—in an unspeakable moment of weakness—where she found herself staring at a couple of Stacie’s latest instagram selfies like a fucking _creep_. She will never admit this to anyone until the day she died.

Deciding that she had definitely hit rock-bottom, she strengthened her resolved and threw herself into work (even more than she usually did). She almost gave her paralegal a hug when she came in asking for some help on a task she was assigned. And thankfully by mid-afternoon, a couple of important meetings demanded her attention and allowed a brief respite from her internal monologue. Whenever her mind even dared to wander, she chided herself back into focus. Aubrey Posen was better than this, goddammit.

The day passed slowly and painfully.

 

* * *

 

Stacie may have lied about having to be in New York for a specific meeting, but it didn’t mean that she was a slacker. As part of the R&D team (at a solid startup, no less), she actually had the funds and the flexibility to go out and do things. It was an absolute blessing, and Stacie wasn’t the kind of person who would take something like that for granted. Once she landed and dropped her things off at the hotel, she made sure to look through their team’s ever growing audit document and selected a few sites to conduct some field research.

Stacie felt lucky that this got to be part of her job. While being in the lab and having an open canvas to create new things was exciting in its potential, doing fieldwork was satisfying in its tangibility and instantaneous return. She loved speaking to people, from the skeptical customers to the employees who rallied around whatever cosmetic product they were selling. But Stacie had the foresight too, to analyze behavior and attention, and to really seek out the people with health conditions who desperately needed the right kind of treatment the most. (This astuteness was the main reason her boss trusted her so much.)

So _yes_ , while Stacie may have asked permission to work out of New York for the day just for a _girl_ , she was going to at least take her work seriously and be somewhat productive with her time. With a set gameplan, she was able to stop by 5 different stores and get on a phone call with her team in Chicago by mid-afternoon.

But, as soon as her mind decided that it was enough to call it a day, she sped back to the hotel to allow herself plenty of time to get ready for her date.

God, she had a date, with _Aubrey_.

That idea alone was enough to rack her to her knees.

But for every nervous thought, an excited one would come up in tandem.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach perpetually while she showered and dressed. It took over an hour the night before to decide on three different outfits to bring. It took close to another to finally decide on which one to wear. Something that wasn’t too casual, but also made her boobs look tastefully fantastic.

It was half past five when Stacie finally extricated herself from the bathroom mirror and decided to stop fussing over every single lash or wisp of hair. She grabbed her clutch and hurriedly left the hotel to head over to a nearby flower shop she’d noticed earlier. After purchasing a single rose, she hopped on the metro and headed downtown.

They had decided to meet at a restaurant that was walking distance from the law firm. (‘They’ actually meant Stacie had proposed a plan that she’d thought through for a week, and Aubrey agreed.) It was a small and cozy Italian place—one that the younger girl had actually called in advance to make sure she got a convenient, much sought-after 7pm reservation.

Stacie knew that Aubrey was a stickler for being punctual.

She was going to be early.

 

* * *

 

Mia had been spending the past few hours praying for the clock hand to move faster so that she could leave and start her weekend already. It had been a slow afternoon for her, which meant that it was a boring afternoon. While it was nice to sometimes have room to do her own thing, there were only so many magazines and listicles that she could go through before the restlessness settled in. Nobody in the office seemed to have any errands she could help with either, so she was stuck by herself out front, googling images of Costa Rica to plan for a trip she will probably never take.

Fridays were always particularly tough on her. Many of her friends had regular nine to five hours, while she had to stay at least a half an hour past six to accommodate the tendency of the lawyers to work a little later. She did get compensated an extra amount for such, but when it was 6:15 on a Friday...the money didn’t seem worth it. (It totally was, she was just being a brat.)

She’d just begun to organize her files for the second time that day, when suddenly, the elevator pinged.

Hm, odd to have visitors this late in the day. Nevertheless, she straightened her posture in preparation to greet their guest.

The doors slid open and Mia swore to god, a supermodel with legs for _days_ came strolling through.

Hot damn.

Was this lady lost or something?

Mia watched as this goddess of a brunette took a quick, analytical glance around the reception space, before hesitantly approaching her at the desk.

Although slightly intimidated, Mia put on her best smile.

“Hello, how may I help you?”

She watched the woman bite her lip and waver for a second before finding her words.

“Hi, I’m a friend of Aubrey Posen’s. I was wondering if she’s around and if I can pop into her office really quick to say hello?”

Mia widened her eyes with a gape. This gorgeous woman, who looked like she just popped out of a Vogue photoshoot down the street, was friends with Aubrey? _Our_ Aubrey?

It took an extra long beat for her to realize that she was just sitting there while the new visitor waited for an answer. She quickly rebooted.

“Oh! Yes, Aubrey is still in the office, but I’m afraid I can’t just let you in as we have strict rules about confidentiality,” she told her apologetically. “But I could let her know that you’re here?”

She began to reach for the phone on her desk but was immediately (almost alarmedly) interrupted by the woman. “No! Wait.” In the panicked motion, the brunette revealed herself to have been holding a flower behind her back. (So much for being discreet.)

Upon that sight, Mia’s open-mouthed stare slowly turned into a grin.

Her Friday night just got a lot more interesting.

“Um,” the model spoke up again. “Actually, can you tell her that it’s a package?” She had the decency to blush at her own request.

Mia assured her with a wink and picked up the phone.

 

* * *

 

“Yes, a copy of the signed contract has been dropped off with a courier today.

“Mhmm.

“You should get it by Monday afternoon the latest.”

Aubrey had been on the phone with a lawyer from a different branch for the past twenty-five minutes discussing a case that she’d been recently providing help with. He had been asking a steady stream of questions and wanted detailed explanations for every other item—on a Friday night, when probably half their office was gone already. The blonde let out a slow exhale and really regretted having hoped so intensely for a distraction all day. She took it back. No more!

Aubrey paced around her office as she listened on to her colleague on the other line, talking at her for some moments, then mumbling to himself for some more. She was about to ask him what his original question was, when her office extension rung.

“Sorry, I’m getting another call, just give me one moment.” She put him on hold on her mobile as she picked up, noticing the light under reception.

“Yes, Mia?”

“Hi Aubrey, a package just arrived for you up front.”

“Oh…thanks. I’ll take it when I head out tonight.”

She was about to hang up when she heard a faint “No, wait!!” emit from the handset. She pulled it back to her ear. “What was that?”

“Uhm……. You have to sign for it!”

“Oh. Why didn’t you say so. I’ll be right there.” She hung up and grabbed her phone to get back to her waiting colleague.

“Still there?” she asked amusedly. She was kind of hoping that he’d hung up, but the other lawyer was quick to continue where the conversation left off. As he continued rattling off his thoughts in her ear, Aubrey stepped out of her office and headed towards reception.

“No. That would only be the case if they were subsidized.”

She didn’t understand why he was asking all these things that he should’ve known already.

“Part of the acquisition last year. Yes, it was clear from the beginning.” Furrowing her brows in thought, she pushed her way through the frosted glass doors to get to the front desk.

“They’re asking if it’s a liability?” she asked with a raised brow. At that moment she looked up to locate the package she was supposed to be signing for.

Aubrey locked eyes on a familiar figure, and when she finally recognized who it was she nearly dropped her phone.

“I have to go.”  


—  


Aubrey’s astonished eyes met Stacie’s as she hung up her phone. She opened her mouth to say something, but as she took in every impeccable inch of the brunette from head to toe, she was having a hard time finding the words.

So Stacie decided to speak for her.

“Hi.” The toothy grin that grew on the younger girl’s face was instantly contagious.

“Hi.”

Eyes locked, they unconsciously had moved a few steps towards each other.

How had Stacie gotten even more gorgeous since the last time she saw her?

They stood in silence for a couple beats too long, and having realized this, the brunette shyly brought forward what she’d been keeping behind her back and presented it to Aubrey.

“Um, this is for you.”

The blonde looked down in surprise at the rose and accepted it graciously, cheeks tingeing lightly pink. “Thank you.”

Forgotten behind the two of them, Mia gaped silently with her hands over her mouth and a stifled excitement ready to combust.

After a moment, it seemed as if Aubrey found her reset button. She straightened up and gestured with her free hand.

“I’m…ah…Just wrapping up. I’ll only need a few minutes.”

She took a couple steps back towards the double glass doors. When she realized that Stacie wasn’t following, she caught her eye and tilted her head in indication.

“Are you sure it’s okay—“

“Yes, come with me.”

She reached for the younger girl’s hand to pull her along. She struggled for a moment to get to her keycard with both her hands occupied, when suddenly the door beeped open on its own.

“I got it!”

Aubrey faltered a bit at the sudden occurrence of Mia’s presence. Mia, who had been witness to what just transpired. The entire time.

She angled her head back and saw the predicted, smug look on the receptionist’s face. Aubrey narrowed her eyes at the girl. “Thanks.”

They walked through the doors and into the quiet office space. Aubrey tugged gently at Stacie’s hand as she weaved through the halls, eager to get to her own office room quickly without running into any of her colleagues who might still be around. When they got there, Stacie looked around animatedly.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about getting your own office.”

Aubrey gave her a weird look. “Why would I kid about something like that?” She, very regrettably, released the brunette’s hand and proceeded to arrange the newest addition to the bouquet of flowers on the desk.

Stacie smiled fondly and proceeded to pace around the office, studying every aspect there is to it. She traced a finger along the shades and drew them back slightly. “Whoa. Killer view.”

Aubrey came up beside her to look out the window as well. “I know. It’s nice isn’t it?”

In quiet awe, they watched the lights twinkle below for a moment. A glowing sea of red trailing down a couple blocks before ending at an intersection. Ant-people scattered and scurrying about. As she took a breath, the older girl suddenly realized how close they were standing. She cleared her throat.

“I have to go put on a top really quick, I’ll be right back.”

Stacie watched as her friend moved to grab something out of her handbag.

“You already have one on,” she noted cheekily.

“I know, but there’s no way I’m going to dinner in my work shirt. Especially when you look like _that_.”

The younger girl smirked and took a few steps towards Aubrey. “Like what?”

The lawyer bit her lip, visibly affected by the other girl’s proximity. “Like……Good.”

Stacie raised a fine brow.

“Like you belong on a magazine cover. Okay?” Aubrey blushed. “I’ll be quick.” She spun around to step out of her office. “Don’t touch anything!”

Stacie giggled at the warning before excitedly taking the opportunity to examine all of the lawyer’s belongings on display. She turned to the shelves, containing an absurd amount of volumes with an occasional award here and there. A step closer and she noticed some things that she didn’t catch at first glance—an old metronome on one corner, a USO badge on another. She continued looking around, smiling at a few framed certificates on the walls. At one point, she was very tempted to have a seat in Aubrey’s chair, but she decided against it. She did walk behind the desk though, curious to absorb the scene of Aubrey’s life at work. The desk was fairly stark, save for a few floating pieces of paper that Stacie made a point not to look at. She smiled widely at seeing the flowers she’d gotten, sitting in a glass jar on one end of the table.

A picture frame nearby soon caught her attention. She moved closer to pick it up. It was a picture from her freshman year of college, the week before Aubrey’s (and supposedly Chloe’s) graduation. The Bellas had a small farewell party, and upon a certain redhead’s insistence, they spent a good amount of that time taking a ridiculous number of group photos. Out of hundreds, the one she was holding in her hands right now was possibly her favorite. It was a shot of them on the bleachers of the Bella’s rehearsal space. Ashley with arms flailing as she was about to fall over and Jess reaching out behind her with a terrified expression. Cynthia-Rose, cool and oblivious with her arms angled towards the heavens in a striking pose. Lily in a far corner doing a handstand. Amy was laying horizontally across a couple of seats, a leg in the air while Stacie, herself, had an elbow up in defense, narrowly avoiding a kick in the face. Beca stood nearby, mouth half-open in rebuke as she gestured at the Tasmanian. Chloe had one arm around the DJ’s shoulder, while the other looped around a radiant and smiling Aubrey. The oldest girls were the only ones looking properly into the camera, while everybody else was captured mid-goof. The photo pretty much summed up their experience that whole year. Stacie’s heart swelled with affection at the thought of the girls and all the memories they shared.

“I never get tired of that photo.”

Stacie snapped her head up to find Aubrey back in the room. She was about to make a comment but her voice instantly died on her lips when she took in the blonde’s freshened appearance. She had changed into a dressier top (one that Stacie appreciatively noticed showed a bit of cleavage), and had lightly reapplied some of her makeup. The brunette released a series of expletives in her brain as she openly looked her up and down.

It wasn’t that it made any difference in her attraction to Aubrey—because it was very clear from the start that she was, whether the blonde was wearing a cardboard box or a ballgown. It was the fact that Aubrey had cared enough to deliberately go change and put on that delicious shade of red lipstick and fix her hair, as if it _mattered_. As if their date mattered.

Stacie slowly set the picture frame in her hands back down and strode a few steps around the desk to stop in front of Aubrey.

“You look really good in this top.” She dared to reach up and fiddle with the hem a bit.

Aubrey took a sharp breath in. “Thanks.”

The blonde looked down again at Stacie’s outfit while trying extremely hard not to linger too long on her chest. _Okay, wow, this is a new feeling._ With the intention of returning the compliment, Aubrey ended up saying, “You look good in everything.”

Stacie laughed. “Thanks Aubs.”

The women locked eyes as they stood inside each other’s personal space for a moment. Something about their dynamic has obviously shifted and it was almost palpable. When Aubrey caught herself subconsciously slipping a glance at the brunette’s lips, she quickly snapped out of her daze. Blushing, she leaned back and checked the time.

“Should we get going?”

Stacie nodded.

Aubrey grabbed her things, put on her coat, and the two of them left her office. They walked back through the way they came in, except this time, there happened to be a couple of people congregated at one of the common lounge areas as they passed by.

“Aubrey! Heading out?”

 _Shoot._ She stopped in her tracks and spun around to see Monique settled on a couch and a small group of coworkers chatting around her.

“Yep…”

“Who’s this?” her work-friend asked warmly, looking past the blonde at Stacie with a smile. At this point, enough of her colleagues had momentarily paused their conversation and looked over, curiosity piquing at the sight of a new face in their office (not to mention a gorgeous one).

Aubrey hesitated. “Um, this is Stacie, we went to college together.”

The girl in question gave everyone a small wave.

“Mmhmm.” Aubrey furrowed her brows at Monique’s thoughtful expression. She followed the woman’s gaze downwards to notice that she and Stacie were holding hands. Wait, when did that happen?

The blonde cleared her throat embarrassedly. “Anyway…we’ve got to get going. Have a good weekend everybody.” She looked around once more and widened her eyes when she realized that Nate had been there too, staring back at her with a slack jaw. Cringing, she tugged Stacie along to be on their way.

“Bye Aubrey! Nice meeting you Stacie!”

When they rounded the corner, the younger girl promptly began to apologize. “Sorry Bree, I know I probably shouldn’t have come up here and given your coworkers something to talk about…”

“No, it’s fine, really.” The lawyer gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and thought for a moment. “I’m glad that you came and got to see my office.” Her job was a big part of Aubrey’s life, and she had actually been excited to show that to Stacie. And regarding the concern about office gossip…well, firstly, it’s none of their business, and secondly, she’ll deal with that if she has to later.

“Besides…maybe Nate will take a hint after all.”

“Oh he was there?” There was an edge to the brunette’s tone. Aubrey only smirked and kept walking.

When they exited through the double doors and into reception, they saw that Mia was still behind the desk. The girl had quickly perked up in her seat and made note of the couple’s locked hands.

“Bye Aubrey, have a fantastic weekend!”

The blonde rolled her eyes at Mia’s zest and shot her a look as they stepped into the elevator. “You too.”

She could have sworn she saw her wink just as the doors closed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was really satisfying to write Mia, can you tell?  
> Also, how fucking smooth is Stacie Conrad? I wish I had that level of game.


	6. Chapter 6

All throughout their quick walk to the restaurant and up until they were seated at a quiet table by the corner, Aubrey had a strange feeling in her stomach. Nothing about the situation, nothing about having dinner with Stacie was anything new. But then…it _was_. Everything was. She was getting all these new feelings about everything—the way Stacie walked, the way she pulled her hair over her shoulder, the way her eyes darted around, the way she smiled and thanked the waiter as he set down their menus.

Everything felt natural and novel at the same time.

Aubrey didn’t know what to do with this mixture of anxiety, excitement, and flat out awe. The only thing her mind alarmedly focused on was the monumental fact that she was on a date with Stacie Conrad. It was as if everything leading up to this moment had finally hit her.

Her internal monologue of freaking out was suddenly interrupted by their waiter.

“Can I get you ladies anything to start off with? Maybe some wine?”

They both looked up simultaneously. “Yes _please_.”

“Lovely. What kind would you prefer this evening, red or white?”

They hummed in thought for a second and Stacie caught her eye.

“Rosé?” she suggested with a slight shrug.

Aubrey chuckled and nodded.

When the waiter turned away, the two women were left to face each other again. The restaurant was extremely cozy and dimly lit, accentuating the romantic ambiance by numerous degrees. A quick glance around confirmed that there were indeed many couples dining here this evening. Aubrey felt so timid about the situation all of a sudden, she could hardly look at the brunette sitting across from her.

“Aubrey.”

She snapped her eyes back from gazing about the restaurant and diffidently looked at Stacie.

“Are you nervous?”

Aubrey bit her bottom lip. “Maybe,” she admitted, flicking her eyes down at the table before returning them again.

“It’s okay, I’m kinda nervous too.”

They shared a quiet laugh. Okay, maybe this doesn’t have to be scary.

“It’s…been a while, since I’ve been on a date of any kind,” Aubrey said demurely.

“Chloe told me that…you’ve dated women before?” Stacie asked curiously. “Also, I totally didn’t mean to throw her under the bus like that. She was just helping out. I hope you’re not mad that she told me.”

The blonde sighed and shook her head. “No, it’s alright. I… The girls I dated didn’t end up being anything serious. But I’ve just, never really wanted to make a big deal out of it, you know.” She waved offhandedly, but with a slight blush on her cheeks. She then shot Stacie an interested look. “Have you?”

“Yes, I’ve dated a few. Well, loosely.” The younger girl grinned unabashedly. “You know I’ve always been pretty open and…fluid about these things.”

Aubrey hummed in acknowledgment. A part of her admired (and envied) Stacie’s confidence and overall nonchalance towards conformity. She can imagine how liberating it must feel.

“But it’s okay, you know. Don’t overthink it. We’re just having dinner and…hanging out,” the brunette said with a half shrug. “No pressure.”

The genuine smile on Stacie’s face was infectious, and Aubrey couldn’t help but return it. She settled in her seat a little, feeling more comfortable.

The waiter found that moment to return with two glasses of wine and their bottle.

“Ready to order yet ladies, or shall I give you a few more minutes?”

They’d been fidgeting with their menus but had not even skimmed them yet. “Um, a few minutes please.”

When he left, the two of them promptly tried to focus on what they’d like.

“Have you been here before?”

“No, but I’ve always wanted to.”

“Everything looks so good.”

“I know, and I’m starving.”

It was something Stacie never understood—how people expected her to just pick one thing. After going back and forth a few times, she sheepishly suggested that they could order a few different dishes to share and Aubrey enthusiastically agreed.

“Excellent choices ladies.”

Once the waiter had left with their order, they settled in their seats once again, shyly exchanging glances with words at the ends of their tongues. It took a moment to recollect and resume their conversation.

“So,” Stacie cleared her throat and lightly started. “How was your week?”

And just like that they slipped back into a comfortable casualness. A reminder that: right, they were friends. Aubrey now felt silly about her earlier taciturnity. “It was fine, a good amount of busy,” she began. “I had a case finally wrap up so it always feels great to be able to move on to the next thing.”

“Nice. What was this one about? If I’m allowed to ask,” Stacie added.

“Well, I can tell you vaguely. It was a ridiculous dispute between two business partners who had their own opinions over the direction of their company.”

“Yikes. I can smell the drama already.”

“Yeah, it was not pretty. You would think that two, full-grown men would have the decency not to yell at each other in a four-way meeting.

“At one point, it evolved into an argument about who came up with their business plan in the first place. And that was when one of them whipped out an old paper napkin with absolutely incomprehensible chicken-scratch all over it.”

“Seriously?”

“I’m not kidding.”

They went on for a moment, discussing the specifics (but not too specific!) of the case Aubrey had been working on. The lawyer was surprised that Stacie was actually interested in what she did at work. She often expected people to get bored or lost whenever she explained something at a deeper level. But even if she didn’t quite understand, Stacie didn’t change the topic and only continued to ask more questions.

Which was…nice.

“Yep, so while we had a couple fires to put out at the beginning of the week, we eventually got everything resolved.”

“Wow, must be stressful.”

Aubrey thought for a moment. “It is and it isn’t. You just need to be organized and give the right orders.”

“In your element then?” Stacie winked.

The older girl smiled. She then added bashfully, “It did help that I was getting sent these lovely gifts throughout the whole week.”

Stacie absolutely beamed. “Did you like the candy hearts?”

Aubrey’s eyes lit up. “Yes! Where did you even get those?”

“I just googled one day on a whim and there were like, 10 different places that make custom ones. You can get _anything_ online these days.”

They giggled. “I got to say, excellent song choices. But I was a little disappointed that you left out Ace of Base.”

“Hey, ‘The Sign’ was the first thing I thought of! But it seemed a little obvious. I didn’t want to give myself away, yet.”

Aubrey smirked and shot her a look. But after a moment, she grew contemplative.

“Can I tell you something..?”

At her hushed tone, Stacie leaned in a bit with curiosity. She watched a hesitant expression flit across the blonde’s face.

“I was hoping it would be you.”

“Really?” Stacie raised her brows in delight. A warm feeling flooded her chest and her lips broke into a wide smile. “And here I was second guessing everything and waiting to be shamefully rejected.”

Aubrey scoffed. “Please, as if anybody could possibly reject you, Conrad.”

“Hey, it’s happened before.”

Aubrey dropped her hand onto the table in disbelief. “No.”

“I hit on a girl at a bar once, and she immediately freaked out and shut me down. Kinda made a scene.” She shook her head at the memory and reached for her wine. “But, she did find me later to apologize.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “And I still got a pity kiss out of it.”

“Oh shut up, of course you did.” Aubrey leaned back and crossed her arms rather indignantly. “I bet you flipped her right then.”

The blonde rolled her eyes exaggeratedly when Stacie just waggled her brows in response.

“Incorrigible.”

Very soon, their conversation was interrupted by the food arriving. Their eyes grew ten sizes and neither of them hesitated to dig in, reaching across the table in all directions and relishing the different flavors.

“Great idea,” Aubrey commented on the variety of things they’d gotten. Maybe it was because they knew each other and were comfortable as friends, but neither felt pressured at all to be polite and reserved when it came to their food. They’d ordered five different things—definitely more than an outsider would have expected if they saw two girls sitting at the table. A part of the fun was proving people and their stereotypes wrong. But most of all, it was just great to be able to eat whatever the hell they wanted.

“Ugh, this pasta is so fucking good.” Stacie moaned rather unadulteratedly. “Reminds me of something my mom used to make.”

“Is your family still in Pennsylvania? That’s where you’re from right?”

“Yep, most of my family’s there. One of my older brothers is in Hawaii though.”

“Oh, what’s he doing there?”

“He runs a surf shop.” Stacie snickered to herself, and Aubrey figured there might be more to what’s been led on.

“Are you and your brothers close?”

The brunette nodded and smiled fondly. “Yeah, they look out for me. They’re the ones that got me into science when I was little.”

They continued to talk about their respective families for a bit, something that they’d never really done in college save for Aubrey’s passing words of wisdom from her father. It was interesting to see how their upbringings paralleled and differed, despite both having grown up on the east coast. It was interesting too, to continue sharing their own versions of their college experience at Barden.

“Okay, so you know how there’s that small lake behind the football field?”

Stacie listened intently with her chin propped in her hand.

“In my sophomore year, some guy got drunk and left his car running on top of the hill. They found it in the lake the next day and it took 5 hours fish it out.”

“What!”

“That’s why the school had to put up a fence.”

“No way. I never knew that.” Stacie thought for a second and wondered what else she’s never found out about her college. “Okay, then what was the deal with the pool?”

“Oh, trust me, you don’t even want to know.”

“Tell me!”

They talked extensively about Barden, sharing stories, highlights and gossips. For a long time, they talked about the Bellas and all the cherished memories they had. Even the awful ones were funny now. All the times Fat Amy did this… All the times Beca did that… Aubrey felt a twinge of jealousy when Stacie told her stories from the years after the blonde had graduated. It was crazy how connected they felt to one another. Even all these years later, even if most of them were spread out miles apart, and their only interaction was through sporadic social media moments, they still felt part of each other’s lives. Like family.

And that was partially why it felt _easy_ between the two of them. That they just, got each other at every level of their conversation. Moments where they completed thoughts without having to even finish their sentences; a shared look of exasperated affection when Beca and Chloe were brought up; excited back and forth banter about the latest top 40. It was…weird, just how easily they talked about everything. And even though Aubrey was quick to find out that Stacie was almost as opinionated and stubborn as she was, nothing about the brunette’s difference in opinions bothered her at all. Stacie’s brand of candid impudence was as refreshing as it was intriguing. And Aubrey could easily see that beyond the surface contrast of their personalities, they were actually aligned on so many things.

At one point in the evening, Aubrey found herself laughing so hard at a story Stacie was telling that her cheeks started hurting. She wasn’t even sure what was particularly funny, but it might have been the culmination of the younger girl’s expression and definitely, definitely the wine. Perhaps they were both a little bit tipsy.

Eventually, they were snapped out of their haze by a waiter approaching their table to ask if they’d like another bottle. They both looked surprised that their glasses were completely empty. Aubrey took a look at the time and realized it was almost 11.

“I think we’re good,” Stacie answered for the two of them. “We’ll just have the check please.”

When the waiter returned, Aubrey was taken aback to see the leather check holder with a card inside already, and a receipt ready to sign.

“What…”

“I’ve got it, Bree.”

“Stacie, no. We’ll split.”

But the brunette had already signed in a flourish. She clicked the pen close, retrieved her card and flipped the folder shut. “They’ve already charged my card.”

“What— How—“

“I cheated,” she admitted with a wink. “I slipped them my card when we were waiting to be seated.”

Aubrey gaped. It was one thing to witness Stacie Conrad’s smooth moves—it was definitely another to be at the receiving end of them.

“C’mon Bree, I asked you out. You can just get it next time.”

The blonde just shook her head in mock disapproval, but eventually relented as she had no choice. “Fine. Next time.” She shot the girl across from her a warning look.

Stacie returned it with a winning smile.

The both of them then sat quietly, observing each other for a long moment. It was obvious that neither had wanted the night to end yet.

“So,” Stacie clasped her hands together in proclamation. “Ice cream?” 

 

* * *

 

“I cannot believe you are eating ice cream right now.”

At Stacie’s earlier insistence, they had left the restaurant to hunt down the closest place that sold mint chocolate chip ice cream. Aubrey was highly amused by the brunette’s squeal of delight when they came across a small shop that churned their ice creams with liquid nitrogen. While declining to get a scoop, Aubrey assertively made sure to pay for Stacie’s, and watched curiously at her utter excitement at the making process.

Arms looped, the two of them were now making their way towards a nearby park. As they strolled, Aubrey huddled into her coat and scarf while Stacie happily enjoyed her dessert.

“It tastes even better in the cold,” Stacie remarked, licking her spoon.

The older girl just huffed in response.

“Wanna try some?”

“No thanks.”

“C’mon just try a little. You know, the rapid freezing minimizes the ice crystals to make it extra creamy.”

Aubrey raised a brow at that sudden nugget of information. “No, really, I’m good.”

“Not even a teeny bit?” She took a spoonful and brought it towards Aubrey.

“Stacie, it’s freezing!”

The brunette bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. But her will was determined and she kept her hand where it was, right in front of Aubrey’s lips.

“It’s worth it. I promise.”

With absolute delight, she watched as the lawyer’s facade cracked—her gaze softening and red lips parting to finally take the spoon in her mouth. Stacie stared on as a pink tongue darted out to lick away any remainder of ice cream.

“See. Told you it was good.”

The pair continued on their path around the edge of the small park. While chilly outside, the trees and buildings offered at least a bit of shelter from the strong winds. After a quick loop, they ended up on one of the benches overlooking a pond. The cold weather allowed the two women the opportunity to huddle up right against each other. They gazed off into the water for a long moment, letting their eyes adjust to the darkness.

“How long are you here for?”

It took a minute for Stacie to respond. “Sunday.”

“Hotel?”

“Midtown.”

Aubrey sat in contemplation for a while.

“You really had this all planned out, didn’t you?” she teased.

It was Stacie’s turn to feel embarrassed. She kept her gaze averted. “My company didn’t mind having me work from here today… And if you said ‘no’, I figured I could still use this weekend to see other friends and visit some museums.”

A blushing Stacie was absolutely adorable.

Aubrey couldn’t find the words, so she untangled their arms and took the brunette’s hand in hers, fingers interlacing.

They sat in silence for another long moment. Hands tingling, warmth growing in their chests despite the cold surrounding them.

Nothing worrying their minds. Just watching the condensation of their breaths mingle with every exhale as they looked out into the darkness of the pond.

“Hey, Bree.”

“Hm?”

Aubrey turned her head to suddenly find that Stacie had leaned in close, head tilted and lips parted. They’re noses brushed delicately for an instant and Aubrey’s eyes immediately fluttered, breath caught in her throat. Everything around her lost focus and all she could feel was her heart beating madly against her chest.

A couple more heated seconds had to pass before she realized that Stacie wasn’t going any further.

Thoughts going a mile a minute, Aubrey finally shut her eyes and closed the distance.

Body heat coming together and heartbeats drumming in their ears, their lips solidly connected. Soft, languid. Distant tastes of mint and chocolate, and the melding of their perfumes.

When they finally pulled apart, they’re breaths were staggered and faces unnaturally warm.

They stared at each other for a while, in a daze, until Stacie couldn’t keep the toothy smile from tugging at her lips anymore.

Seeing such a look of bliss on the brunette’s face, Aubrey chuckled. She then chewed at her own lip in deliberation as her gaze flickered down at Stacie’s mouth once more.

At this, Stacie raised a brow, as if to say ‘Again?’

Shyly, Aubrey leaned in for a second time. Stacie eagerly welcomed her lips and they continued to exchange a long stream of exploratory kisses. Pushing and pulling in tandem. Every time they parted, a magnetic force would bring them back again a few seconds later.

Neither of them were exactly sure when the flip had switched—a spur of the moment when their kisses had deepened into increasingly needier versions of those that came before. The blonde had a near-Herculean grip on the lapels of Stacie’s coat, while she had a restless hand stroking and grasping at Aubrey’s thigh. A particularly rough squeeze drew a throaty sound from Aubrey, and that’s when they knew they had to stop.

At least, stop making out in a public park in the middle of a freezing cold night.

They drew apart, cheeks, noses and lips flushed.

Then, in a rush of a breath, Aubrey said something that surprised them both.

“Come back to mine?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii, I haven't forgotten about this story, I promise. Here's a chapter that would hopefully make up for my late update!

They wasted no time in hailing a cab and heading back to Aubrey’s apartment. In the car, they didn’t dare sit too close, but kept their fingers interlocked the entire ride as they traded whispers about the sights that passed by.

Their walk up to the apartment was quiet, but with a low hum of adrenalin lingering somewhere above their stomachs. However, when the two girls finally got through the door of Aubrey’s unit, they fell timid.

They shrugged off their shoes and coats in silence. The blonde then cleared her throat. “Do you want something to drink…?”

“Just water is fine.”

She got both of them a glass and proceeded to give Stacie a short tour of her place. It was a small, one-bedroom flat with a modern open kitchen complemented by a minimal living room. Almost predictably pristine. The younger girl wasn’t sure if it was out of a habit of order, or if the space was just seldomly lived in.

“It’s nice,” Stacie remarked, peeking out one of the windows in the living room. She then turned and joined Aubrey on the couch.

“It’s simple,” the older girl offered.

They regarded each other for a long while as they sat, neither one sure about making the first move. If it were a test of strength, Stacie had no qualms about being the one to succumb. If it were with anybody else, they’d have long gotten into the bedroom. But, Aubrey wasn’t anybody, and Stacie had already made a sure decision about letting the blonde set the pace.

After an uncomfortably long moment, Aubrey let out a frustrated huff. Stacie would have laughed if she wasn’t waiting to hear what she was going to say.

“I don’t know if you’re being polite or being deliberately obtuse, but you need to get your cute ass over here right now.”

Stacie giggled at the blonde’s displeased expression and slowly relented, scooting over the rest of the distance between them. But obeying orders didn’t mean that she couldn’t have a bit of fun herself. In one fluid motion of great leisure she leaned in, their eyes locked in a charged gaze as she hovered seductively close. But right before their lips grazed, she angled her head away in a tease, and opted to brush her mouth hotly against the blonde’s ear instead.

“You think my ass is cute?”

But Aubrey wasn’t having it. Completely ignoring the taunt, she pulled back and tilted to press their lips together in a long-awaited kiss. Hands shot up and weaved themselves into soft brown hair in an instant. Stacie leaned in heavily, pressing Aubrey back inch by inch until she was fully reclined on the couch with the younger girl propped above her. Not once had their mouths parted. They nipped at each other’s lips, letting their tongues slide and hands wander with desire.

In the back of her mind, Stacie was surprised at Aubrey’s audacity and, quite frankly, _roughness_. It turned her on unbelievably. The intention—taking like she knew exactly what it was she wanted.

When the blonde’s hands found their way onto Stacie’s back and reached under her shirt to knead against soft skin, she almost lost it. She swallowed a strangled grunt and momentarily broke their kiss apart, choosing instead to drag her lips along Aubrey’s neck. Body squirming beneath her, she felt the older girl’s touch begin to get frantic, in struggling motions that shifted between stroking and clawing.

A couple of tugs and Stacie had lowered herself down on top of Aubrey, pressing together their bodies and desperately feeling as much as they could with the fabric of their clothes still infuriatingly between them. A hand had gently slid down along the blonde’s legs. When Aubrey started to arch her body up, Stacie felt her restraint slowly disintegrating.

Fuck.

Stacie wanted to control herself, but she also wanted to make Aubrey feel good.

She was thoroughly conflicted, with her senses scattered in a billion places and the most overwhelming one being a deep desire to gratify Aubrey’s needy imploring. Because that was what Stacie had always been instinctively talented at, making people and their bodies feel good. But were they ready to go that far?

Her thoughts reeled when Aubrey suddenly ducked her head to latch her lips onto the most sensitive spot on Stacie’s neck. In a wild lapse of control, Stacie slipped her hand around Aubrey’s waist, grabbing her ass aggressively and grinding down _hard_.

The wanton moan that poured from Aubrey’s throat was so loud it filled the room and echoed against the walls inside their heads.

The both of them froze immediately, muscles seizing them in their actions. Heavy panting between them and thoughts combusting as they lay still as stone on the couch.

Stacie was the first to back away slowly, and as she racked her blank head for something to say, she took in the appearance of the blonde below her. Face and neck completely flushed, lipstick absolutely all over the place and hair in a tousle. (The younger girl was most certain that she fared no better.) But the most staggering thing that caused Stacie’s breath to hitch was the undeniable look of pure _want_ behind Aubrey’s dilated eyes. The brunette had to drag her hands away and lean back to focus on the words on the tip of her tongue.

“I’m sorry…if I went too far.”

Aubrey furrowed her brows and parted her lips as if to berate her for even stopping. But then, Stacie silently observed the frown shift into an expression more taken aback, as if the blonde’s brain finally managed to catch up.

Aubrey began to prop herself up and recompose a bit. Her ears and cheeks were glowing red, both from the heated make out session and from the embarrassing sound it caused her to make. She couldn’t believe that she had gotten so…out of control. She took a glance at Stacie and realized that the poor girl was watching her with bated breath, possibly in angst about having crossed a line. Without thinking, she reached for her hand.

“It’s okay… But… We should probably slow down.” Even as she said it, Aubrey lacked the conviction to get behind her own words. She was surprised when Stacie keenly agreed.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” This was special, Stacie thought. It was important to her that she did not rush anything with Aubrey at all. “We should stop.”

_Wait, stop??_ The blonde almost panicked. Her face must’ve been transparent because Stacie laughed out loud and leaned in to give her a wet kiss on the cheek.

“I meant just stop for tonight.”

Aubrey nodded blankly.

No. Stacie was right. They shouldn’t get ahead of themselves. Aubrey let out a deep exhale. “Yeah. Okay.”

She brushed her hair with a hand in an attempt to tame it. She thought for a moment.

“Do you want to stay over though?” she asked shyly, dropping her gaze to her knee. “Just to…you know…sleep.”

“I would like that a lot.”

As if on cue, Stacie stifled a yawned. She excused herself and apologized. “Sorry, had an early start today.”

“Come on.”

Aubrey got up from the couch with their hands still locked and pulled the brunette along. Together they shuffled into Aubrey’s bedroom, suddenly hit with fatigue from each of their days. The older girl went ahead to pull out an old Barden shirt and a pair of sweatpants from her dresser and handed them to Stacie.

“Thanks.”

Quietly, they took turns changing and washing up in the bathroom. It felt a little bizarre actually, oddly domestic, to be getting ready for bed together. When Stacie came back into the room, she saw that Aubrey had slid into one side of the bed already.

Timid, she approached her, feeling the blonde’s eyes follow her every motion as she pulled back the covers to get in. Stacie rigidly laid down, pulling the comforter up to her chest while Aubrey did the same next to her.

“I’m gonna switch off the light.”

“Okay.”

A flick and they were both plunged into darkness.

Lying stock-still, Stacie inhaled and exhaled deeply while staring straight up into the ceiling. Half a foot away, Aubrey was doing the same. Together they laid, listening to each other’s soft breathing while trying not to fidget.

Stacie’s vision had adjusted to the dark after a while. Her eyes trailed around, noticing at the top of the curtains a small glow of light seeping in from the city outside. In the distance, a muffled siren. On the other side of the room, Stacie could make out a frame hanging on the wall. She tried to distinguish what the dark blobs were on the image, but to no avail. Hands itching, the brunette fiddled with her fingers under the covers, until stopping herself by folding in her arms.

She could do this. It’s fine. She could totally keep her hands to herself for one night, no problem.

This was Aubrey here, and she didn’t want to mess it up. It took her all this time to painstakingly pursue her. Stacie was well acquainted with one-and-done type of deals, and she was going to avoid that at all cost. She knew that they both needed time to process this new change of dynamic between them.

But _fuck_ was it hard to know that within reaching distance was a beautiful woman that you’ve kind of been thinking about nonstop for over a month.

Stacie clenched her fists and swallowed, trying to overwrite the vivid images of a flustered and ravished Aubrey wriggling underneath her.

Close by, the blonde was having similar issues with trying to fall asleep. When she had stepped into the bathroom earlier to splash cold water onto her face, she thought she could get a grip on the situation. She thought she could count on her discipline. But…knowing that Stacie was so close, within an arm’s reach (and in her fucking bed for gods’ sake), was causing a fire to burn inside of her.

But _no_.

No.

They shouldn’t be moving so fast. This was all so new; Aubrey barely had any mental space to pause for a second to reflect on it all—on her feelings and what they all meant.

Okay, actually her feelings were pretty clear. She was very into Stacie, and very much into kissing her and holding her hand, and overall into the idea of dating her. Actually, if you had asked her a month ago when the two of them had reconnected what she thought about the concept of dating Stacie Conrad, she would have been into it then.

And boy, don’t even get her started on the absolutely mad attraction. Damn. Never has she felt as turned on as she did when they were going at it on the couch. And even that was just a bit of light petting! Sure, she found Stacie attractive in college (even as soon as the first few seconds into her Bellas audition), and anyone who had fucking eyes could see that she was gorgeous. But _this_ Stacie? A Stacie who had developed into an even more beautiful, confident and charming—overall fuller version of herself? This Stacie she was completely smitten with.

Which was why, before they ended their make out session, Aubrey was ready to go all the way. Once her hands were on the brunette, they had a life of their own. Aubrey couldn’t believe how _needy_ Stacie made her feel. No kiss, no touch was quite enough. She caused all of her rationality to just implode upon itself. When their lips were locked, Aubrey’s brain had gone blank. And this out-of-control feeling would have normally been unsettling for her…but for some reason, with Stacie, it wasn’t a problem at all. She _wanted_ to let go. She _wanted_ to submit to the nerve-racking, dominating force of their desire. Because she knew that with Stacie, who had always been sex positive, who had always been openly in tune with her sensual side, would be encouraging. Would be accepting. Embracing. And despite all the yet-to-be-asked questions in the recesses of their minds about this new dynamic, Aubrey felt strangely safe with her.

It might be because they were friends and had known each other for years. It might be that Stacie had been undeniably thoughtful, attentive and sweet for the past week.

Honestly, she didn’t even know what she had to process—it was pretty fucking clear that she trusted and wanted Stacie.

The fact that this was not a one-night stand was obvious from the very beginning.

Why did they have to slow down again?

Aubrey was brought out of her rambling thoughts at Stacie’s movement beside her. The brunette had shifted to lay on her side, body towards Aubrey. She heard a slow exhale, and just when she thought the younger girl had fallen asleep, she moved again, twisting the opposite direction. Not even a minute later and she returned to laying on her back, her arms moving from her chest to rest at her sides.

When Stacie began to fidget once more, Aubrey turned and gently grasped her wrist. The brunette instantly stilled, and she turned her head with an apology on her tongue.

“Sorry.”

But instead of giving her a response, Aubrey shifted closer and used her free hand to reach up to thumb at Stacie’s chin. Eyes wide, Stacie held her breath.

Deciding that it made no sense to prolong their agony any longer, Aubrey leaned in and gave her a long, slow kiss. Stacie’s response was immediate.

Letting go of any hesitation, Aubrey slid her hand around the brunette’s waist, prompting her to shuffle closer. Their lips slotted together delectably.

“Mmm. You’re really good at that,” Aubrey rasped. It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that Stacie Conrad was good with her tongue. The blonde’s low whisper, though not intended to be sultry, still had Stacie thoroughly affected.

Though the series of kisses that were being exchanged started out unhurried, Aubrey’s hands eventually grew restless and began to wander. They were curious, with an exponentially growing desire to touch and feel the expanse of Stacie’s curves. She began with investigative grazes, and when it was clear that the brunette held no opposition, Aubrey keenly went for it. Perhaps it was something about being under the comfortable cover of darkness. She didn’t know how, but she managed to summon enough courage to smoothly slide her hands under Stacie’s borrowed shirt.

Things got heated real quick after that.

Stacie gripped at the blonde’s hips frantically, and the kisses that followed became rough.

_Fuck._ Stacie had tried so, so hard to be chivalrous. But Aubrey was driving her absolutely crazy with the way her hands roamed, unapologetically grasping and kneading her bare skin.

The blonde, in turn, had eventually come to notice that Stacie’s own hands had remained relatively still. It didn’t take her long to understand what was happening.

She pulled back from their kiss, and through the dark, searched for Stacie’s eyes. She reached down and grasped the brunette’s hands on her waist.

“Stace…”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, ragged breaths between them.

“Are you sure…?”

Aubrey could have laughed at the younger girl’s resolute behavior, if she weren’t so desperate for her to renounce it. She brought one of Stacie’s hands to rest on her own stomach, slipping underneath her pajama top and slowly trailing it upwards.

“Please.”

A light squeeze and a moan from Aubrey was all it took for Stacie to give in.

In a smooth flurry of movements, Stacie had rolled over on top, straddling the blonde and kissing her deeply. Two seconds and both their shirts were on the floor. The line of intimacy between them had been crossed in lightning speed.

Stacie wasted no time in taking charge, which was what Aubrey had been eagerly prompting her to do. Their hands explored and touched with keen attention. All soft skin and curves, kneading, caressing, feeling. A couple more heated exchanges and the rest of their clothes were totally discarded, forgotten.

A deliberate shift in weight and their bodies connected.

Sharp gasps pierced through the room.

Aubrey dragged her nails feverishly up and down the brunette’s smooth back as they moved. No control over the grunts and sounds that came out of her own mouth. Stacie sucked roughly on her neck and rolled her hips.

“ _F-uck._ ”

A continuous medley of hot breaths, skin on skin and _friction_.

They stayed up well into the early morning.

 

* * *

  

_DeeeetDeeeetDeeeetDeeeetDeeeetDeeeetDee—_

The faint sound of the alarm clock grew annoyingly shriller by the second.

Aubrey cursed loudly in her foggy head. Eyes shut tight, she groaned and moved to put an end to the screeching noise that was unrelentingly attacking her ears.

Or tried to. When she shifted her body, her arm got caught underneath a weight. Torn between the want to avoid making any disruptive movements and the absolute need to tear the alarm clock apart, Aubrey eventually pulled her arm from under the warm body resting above it. Eyes still closed, she fumbled blindly before finally hitting the clock on her bedside table to turn it off.

A soft moan emitted behind her, with a slight shift of the mattress. Still under the deep haze of sleep, Aubrey automatically rolled over and slid her arm back to where it had been in an apologetic gesture. The body huddled closer in response.

Breaths slowed and Aubrey slipped back into unconsciousness.

—

A little over an hour later, the blonde stirred again. Blearily, her eyes fluttered and began to adjust to the muted morning light in her room. When she took a deep breath, she noticed that the body beside her had shifted as well. Curious, she inched back on her pillow a little. When she did, the brunette laying on her arm tilted her head up and blinked sleepily. Their half-lidded eyes met.

“Sorry about the alarm..” Aubrey rasped in a low whisper.

Stacie inhaled and exhaled deeply. “Mmm, it’s ‘kay.”

They laid in silence for a moment, heads still heavy with sleep.

“What time is it?” Aubrey heard the brunette mumble. She turned to take a peek at the wretched alarm clock that she forgot to disable. “9:48.”

At that, Stacie let out a long groan. “Ughhh, too early.” She rolled over onto her side and ended up half on top of the blonde, sliding arms around her waist and nuzzling deep into the warmth of her neck.

Aubrey’s heart fluttered while she reciprocated the embrace, allowing the younger girl to get comfortable. Their chests rose and fell against each other in tandem. As Aubrey’s brain began to wake up, so did her sense of touch. Every inch of bare skin that was connected to Stacie’s tingled.

It was surprisingly natural, the way their bodies fit together. The way their legs tangled and slotted comfortably. Effortlessly.

The mere thought of Stacie’s body made her gut clench. She couldn’t stop her hands from tracing a few fingers from the brunette’s tailbone all the way up to her shoulder blades. The touch made Stacie lean her head back to look into Aubrey’s eyes, with her own sleepily inquisitive ones.

Their gaze locked for a while, pupils dilating as they studied each other.

It’s funny, because this feeling—this attraction—had always been there. From the very first moment they met, a recognition had driven its way into their consciousness, even if they didn’t know what to do with this observation then. And it remained there, quietly in the background, almost decorative, (almost forgotten) for the entire time they’ve known each other. Until all of a sudden one day, this feeling was kicked into the spotlight, and now intensely magnified to a near unbearable state.

It was a little overwhelming.

But exhilarating all the same.

In an experimental gesture, Stacie shifted her head until their noses brushed gently. Aubrey inhale a sharp breath, but kept her position where it was.

Stacie’s eyes watched her amusedly, before leaning in to place a long kiss at the edge of the blonde’s parted lips. The hand on the small of Stacie’s back stilled, then moved to grasp at her hip.

When the brunette pulled back, she noticed that Aubrey’s eyes had glazed over and she chuckled lightly.

She watched as they regained focus again. “What?”

Stacie smiled and reached her fingers up to stroke at Aubrey’s jaw. “Nothing.”

The blonde’s furrowed brows only made her grin wider.

For a couple more minutes, they laid, feeling each other’s chests rise and fall, reveling in the quiet of weekend mornings.

Eventually, Aubrey cleared her throat and spoke up.

“Can I ask you something?”

Stacie leaned her head back a little. “Shoot.”

The blonde looked down for a few seconds, before tentatively meeting her gaze once more.

“Why did you decide to ask me out?”

Her tone was curious, more than anything. Stacie hummed and drummed her fingers along the curve of Aubrey’s waist, eyes darting back and forth along the bedroom ceiling as she contemplated. Faint sounds from outside—a local bus chugging its way down the block and rusted cellar doors slamming open—drifted through the crevices of the window.

“Do you know how Stephen Hawking spent most of his life solving the cosmos?”

Aubrey blinked a few times. Okay, she was not expecting to take this turn.

“Uhm, okay, wait, let me try again.” Stacie shook her head, as if to clear her mind. “Ever since I was a kid, I was into science. My brothers always did wacky experiments around the house, and we borrowed all kinds of books that had anything to do with outer space from the library.”

Aubrey listened on, still a little thrown and not quite getting where this was going. A part of her, deep down, was silently afraid that the younger girl was changing the topic, but she refrained herself from making that assumption so quickly.

But the puzzled look on her face didn’t go unnoticed by Stacie, who promptly let out a short, frustrated huff. “I’m sorry, I just— I guess what I’m trying to say is—ever since then, I would always have questions, about everything. And I wouldn’t let it go until I found out the answer. Like, stay up all night reading or asking my brothers to explain to me a billion times until I got it. It became kind of a…built-in sorta thing.”

Stacie let her eyes wander around once more.

“You know, that day you texted me about Nate asking you out again… It got me thinking.”

She recalled that day clearly, and the sinking realization that Aubrey might not be available forever.

“I mean, I thought there might’ve been something…when we met up.

“And with Valentines day and all, you know, I just—

“I couldn’t go on without knowing what it would be like.”

Aubrey tried to catch up with everything that was just said. “What _what_ would be like?”

Stacie looked at her simply. “This.”

Slowly, she leaned close and took Aubrey’s bottom lip gently between her own. The blonde hummed in delight and instinctively responded, until she caught herself and pulled away abruptly.

“No Stace, my breath is awful.”

“So is mine.” The brunette shrugged and tilted her head in again. But her lips only met the soft skin of Aubrey’s cheek.

“Ugh, _fine_.” As a change of tactic, she dove lower to graze her teeth and lips along the blonde’s neck instead. Aubrey grunted while her hands instantly gripped tightly around Stacie’s back.

Stacie nipped and sucked relentlessly, almost in a way that intentionally tried to provoke as many noises from Aubrey as possible. She giggled loudly when the blonde released a throaty moan.

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

Aubrey’s many attempts to bat her away were weak-willed, empty gestures. Eventually, Stacie wrestled her way on top of the blonde, pinning her down with her arms above her head, leaving their chests heaving lightly.

Then began another round of their staring contest. With Stacie now straddling her, bedsheets having fallen to their waists, Aubrey was having a hard time concentrating on anything besides the naked torso hovering above her. On its own accord, one of her hands slipped from Stacie’s feigned grip and made its way slowly to rest against the brunette’s toned abdomen. The muscles underneath squirmed at the cool touch.

“I was surprised actually,” Stacie admitted. “That you said ‘yes.’”

Aubrey smirked a bit. “You think Chloe would have lied about me being interested?” Just because she could, the blonde gazed down at their bare bodies, lingering on Stacie’s well-endowed chest.

“Did you really have a thing for me? Back then?” Stacie’s question was light, yet curious. Aubrey snapped her eyes back up to meet the younger girl’s knowing look and arched brow. _Busted._

Aubrey felt her cheeks get hot, and she moved to run a hand through her own tousled hair. “I mean, it was clear to me, and the rest of the student population, that you were very attractive.”

“I still am,” Stacie corrected.

Aubrey hummed in consensus. “Which was why I didn’t even have to think about it. When I got your card in the mail.” She remembered the precise moment her brain had pieced it all together, the instance of recognition that Stacie was asking her out. The resounding ‘yes’ that took less than half a second was such a quick decision that she even caught herself off guard.

“So you just wanted me for my good looks?” Stacie gasped in playful jest. “I mean, I knew you were throwing me compliments left and right when we met up, but I expected more from you, Posen.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Do I seem like the type of person who would bed you just because you’re hot?”

“You don’t seem like the type of person who would bed me, period,” Stacie pointed out with a smirk. “Much less bed me on the first date.”

At this accusation, the blonde blushed intensely—so intensely that the color spread across her neck and chest. It was so endearing, Stacie couldn’t help the delighted giggle from escaping her lips. She rested a hand against her warm skin as an attempt to cool her down.

“I didn’t expect you to ask me over,” the brunette continued, tracing the contour’s of Aubrey’s features with her eyes before looking away. “To be honest, I was pretty ready to hunker down and have to ask you out a couple more times—maybe like, work my way up to holding your hand and kissing you at the door or something. At least woo you for a few weeks.”

The confession, along with Stacie’s shy and averted gaze, was melting Aubrey’s heart. She knew this was Stacie’s way of saying just how interested and invested she was. The older girl reached up to cup her face and leaned in to press a firm kiss on the corner of her lips.

“No one’s telling you to stop wooing me.”

Stacie smirk roguishly. Without another thought, she leaned down to capture Aubrey’s lips.

It lasted two seconds before she was pushed away.

“Stop.” Aubrey had brought a hand up to cover her mouth.

“Oh my god.” Stacie tipped her own head back and rolled her eyes with exasperation. Abruptly, she pushed herself up from the bed and slipped out of the covers. When the cool air hit her body, Aubrey pulled the sheets back to cover her chest and sat up in confusion. She watched Stacie—dear lord, all 5’8” of a very nude Stacie Conrad—barge out of her bedroom like she was on a mission. Five seconds later, she appeared again, rifling through a clutch in her hand. Aubrey had to stare for a moment. Just a gloriously naked Stacie, standing in the middle of her bedroom, long dark hair cascading over one side of her shoulder. She bit her lip when her eyes trailed down the entire length of the brunette’s body. Vignettes of the night before invaded her senses.

Damn.

It was hard to believe that this was real. That she got to feel with her own fingertips the gorgeous figure in front of her.

A sudden movement from the object of her attention interrupted her thoughts and caused her eyes to snap up. She caught Stacie unravelling a wrapper and bending a stick of pink gum in half before tossing it into her mouth. Haphazardly, she flung the clutch aside and proceeded to climb back onto bed towards Aubrey.

Well, saunter was probably the better term. Stacie’s gaze was steady and full of mischief.

Eventually, she made her way on top of Aubrey’s lap. This time, the kiss she initiated was not rejected.

Strawberry.

Aubrey licked her lips and looped her arms around the brunette’s waist to pull her even closer. Seamlessly, their mouths fused together. Stacie was all playful teeth and tongue. After every kiss, Aubrey was left a little more breathless.

What started out slow and exploratory steadily worked its way up into a feverish flurry of wandering hands.

Unable to resist any longer, the blonde trailed her fingers from Stacie’s neck, down the valley of her chest, and ultimately past her smooth abdomen. The brunette groaned in anticipation and nipped roughly at her lips.

But before Aubrey went all the way, a thought had suddenly occurred.

She pulled her head back a fraction and was met with Stacie’s furrowed brows.

“If you didn’t expect to get into my pants…why did you shave?”

The only way Stacie could wipe the infuriating smirk off of Aubrey’s face was by assaulting it with her lips.

 


End file.
